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Diawii an. I Eiis-rnve.I by the New York nuri'au ul llluaifatioii, IfiO Filkoiv st. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



HON. LAZARUS W. POWELL, 

(of HENDERSON, KY.), 

GOVEENOE OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY 

c 
from: 1S51 TO 18S5, 

•• • i jj- 

SENATOR IN CONGRESS 
fjrom: 1859 ax> laes. 



PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF KENTUCKY, 



FRANKFORT, KY.: 
PRINTED AT THE KENTUCKY YEOMAN OFFICE. 

S. I. M. MAJOK, PUBLIC PKINTER. 
1868. 






m BECBANOB. 

0£C 8 1908 



INDQCED 



IN THE HOUSE or EEPEESENTATIVES OP KENTUCKY, 
MARCH 5, 1S6S. 



Mr. McKenzie moved the following resolution, viz : 

JResolved, That a Committee of three be appointed by the Cbai* to 
prepare a Biographical Sketch of the Hon. L. W. Powell, and that the 
Public Printer be directed to print five thousand copies of said Biography 
for the use of this House, together with the speeches delivered on the 
occasion of the announcement of his death, iu pamphlet form, accompa- 
nied with a lithographic portrait of the deceased. 

Which was adopted, and the following named gentle- 
men were appointed to perform the duty indicated by 
the resolution, viz : Messrs. J. A. McKenzie, of Christian 
county ; S. I. M. Major, of Franklin county ; and R. M. 
Spalding, of Marion county. 



IN THE SENATE OF KENTUCKY, 
MARCH G, 180S. 



Mr. Alexander moved the following resolution, viz : 

Resolved, That a Committee of two of the Senate be appointed by the 
Chair, to act in conjunction with a similar Committee of the House, to 
prepare Biographical Sketches of the Hon. L. W. Powell and the Hok. 
John L. Helm, and that the Public Printer be directed to print three 
thousand eight hundred copies of each Biography for the use of the Sen- 
ate, together with the speeches delivered on the passage of the resolu- 
tions in regard to their death in the Senate and the House, the same to 
he publislied in pamphlet form, accompanied with lithographic portraits 
of the deceased, and that they be mailed to the members of both Houses, 
postage paid. 

Which was twice read and adopted. Senators Joseph 
M. Alexander, of the county of Fleming, and Ben. J. 
Webb, of the City of Louisville, were appointed, in pur- 
suance of the resolution, to perform the duty assigned 
thereunder. 



INTRODUCTION, 



It is to be feared that the effort we have made to 
depict the character and public services of the Hon. 
Lazarus W. Powell will be regarded, by many of our 
readers, more as a eulogy than a biography. Every 
written memoir of a truly good man must necessarily 
partake of this character. Had there been anything 
in his private life or in his public career worthy of 
general condemnation, or even of severe censure, we 
cannot suppose that the duty we have endeavored to 
perform would ever have been imposed upon us by the 
General Assembly. The maxim, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, 
is always applicable where there are living representa- 
tives of one's blood and name to be affected by the 
condemnation of the dead. The fact, therefore, that the 
representatives of his own people, so soon after his death, 
have directed his biography to be written, is evidence 
of the purity of his record — of the high estimation in 
which he was held by their entire constituencies. 

It is a singular circumstance, in connection with our 
search after details concerning the private life of Gov- 
ernor Powell, that our inquiries, with rare exceptions, 
have met with only general answers. " He was a most 
genial gentleman," is the usual reply that we have re- 
ceived from men of all parties and all creeds, at home 
and abroad. One writes : " He was always true to his 
principles ajid to his friends, and he was ever ready 
to forgive those who had done him injury." Another 
writes : " He was the soul of honor, as he was of can- 
ilor; conscientiousness and urbanity had in him their 



6 Introduction. 



consistent representatives at all times and under all 
circumstances ; he was sympathetic in the presence of 
human misery and bereavement, and to the poor he was 
always a liberal benefactor." 

One who knew him well writes : 

" There was a geniality about Powell in social life 
that was not only the delight of his friends, but which 
had often the effect to make his bitterest political foes 
forget for the time that he was not of themselves. In 
mixed companies, it was a habit with him to introduce 
topics for conversation that were unlikely to provoke 
contention. When he found it impossible to prevent 
this, he was always uneasy until he or others had turned 
the discourse into other channels. His influence in the 
United States Senate was greatly in excess of his im- 
portance as a party politician. He was known to be a 
man of sound discretion and of incorruptible integrity, 
and his advocacy of measures in which no political policy 
was involved seldom failed to bring to his aid a certain 
number of votes from the opposition benches." 

The Hon. Tnos. C. McCreery, his life-long friend, who 
now fills the position he so greatly distinguished in the 
Senate of the United States, thus writes to one of the 
Committee : 

" I should find it diflicult to write a lengthy biography 
of Governor Powell, from the fact that those traits of 
character which endeared him to all may be stated in a 
few sentences. Everywhere, at all times, and under all 
circumstances, he ivas the same. In social and private life, 
he was a kind, genial, hospitable gentleman. AVhen you 
• approached his door, no cloud shaded his brow; but the 
gushing warmth of his welcome made you feel that you 
were entering the portals of a friend. In public life, he 
never failed to come up to the full measure of his duty. 
He was possessed of a high order of talents, which he 
industriously employed in supporting measures, the jus- 



Introduction. 



tice of which, in his mind, amounted to positive convic- 
tions." 

So far as we are able to discover, his patriotism was 
never the subject of suspicion in any quarter, except at 
the beginning of the late civil w^ar, when he boldly took 
his stand against the rightful assumption of power, on 
the part of the Federal Government, to make war upon 
the seceded Commonwealths of the South, for the purpose 
of coercing them back into the Union. Not even then 
were his motives impugned by any large number of those 
who were clamorous for the war. The result of the 
attempt which was made in 18G2 to expel him from his 
seat in the United States Senate is clearly indicative of 
the high estimation in which he was held by many among 
the leading members of the Republican party. That at- 
tempt failed by a vote of twenty- eight to eleven, a majority 
of his political opponents voting against expulsion. 

To sum up the result of our investigations as to the 
character of Governor Powell, both as a man and as the 
trusted agent of his State, we find that he was beloved 
by his own people, and everywhere respected; that he 
was true to his political principles, and ardent in their 
dissemination; that he was courageous in defending what 
he conceived to be the truth, and was never discourteous 
in debate — not even toward his bitterest antagonists ; 
finally, that he was exact in the performance of his 
official duties, and was governed by prudence in his 
recommendations of measures of public utility. It were 
impossible to fulfill properly the duty that has been laid 
upon us, in the face of a record so indicative of Govern- 
or Powell's wise statesmanship, of his official integrity, 
and of his exalted character as a man, without giving to 
our memoir the appearance of a panegyric. 

We desire to acknowledge our indebtedness to a num- 
ber of individuals, in difierent parts of the State, who 
have most kindly furnished us with information of one 



Introduction. 



kind or another in relation to the late Governor's private 
and public life. Without such aid, it would have been 
impossible for us to have performed our task with any 
degree of exactness, or to have given to our picture even 
the faint outlines of resemblance to the original, which 
we have been thereby enabled to secure. Our acknowl- 
edgments are especially due to R. T. Glass, Esq., and 
Gov. Archibald Dixon, of Henderson; to the Rev. J. B. 
HuTCHiNS, of Marion county; to Col. S. B. Churchill, 
.Judge Geo. Robertson, Grant Green, Esq., and W. P. D. 
Bush, Esq., of Frankfort ; to the Hon. Thos. C. McCreery, 
of Washington City; to the Hon. I. A. Spalding, of Union 
county, and to the Hon. Henry J. Stites, Col. Phil. Lee, 
Governor Bramlette, and others, of Louisville. 

JOS. M. ALEXANDER, 
BEN. J. WEBB, 

Senate Committee . 
J. A. McKENZIE, 
S. L M. MA.TOR, 
R. M. SPALDING, 

House Committee . 



HIS PRIVATE LIFE. 



Every photographic artist knows that sun-pictures 
depend much for their truthfulness to nature upon the 
marked features of the object sought to be portrayed. 
Smooth faces and regular lines of landscapes are seldom 
caught in their full reality. This is because there are 
certain accessories to truthful delineation always wanting 
in such cases. It is impossible to secure, from the living 
face, the aspect of unrest, which frequently gives to it 
its greatest charm, its most distinguishable feature. It 
is the same with a certain class of inanimate objects. 
A regularly laid-out garden, or a smooth wall of bricks 
or granite, never makes a pleasing picture. In the case 
of the garden, the accessories are wanting of sunshine 
and cloud, fragrance, and the constantly changing lights 
and shadows produced by more or less commotion in 
the atmosphere. In the other case, however grand and 
noble may be the structure exposed to the eye, there 
are lacking the surroundings which are necessary to fix 
in the mind the ideas of fitness, comparison, propriety, 
and the like. The nearest approaches to exactness that 
have resulted from the photographer's art are to be 
foiind in the pictures it has given of old faces, old 
ruins, and other strongly marked aspects in the domain 
of nature. 

In treating of the private life of Governor Powell, 
one must feel that the difficulties he has to encounter 
are equally great with those of the photographer when 
he attempts to reproduce on his prepared paper the 
exact features of a landscape that presents no aspect 



10 Lazarus W. Powell. 

of a marked character. This beautiful life, like a grand, 
but quiet stream, flowed on its peaceful course, blessed 
of all, and bearing blessings to all. 

Although Governor Powell was undoubtedly possessed 
of an ambitious mind, his whole life showed clearly that 
his ambition was worthily directed toward worthy objects. 
He desired to earn an honorable name through the prac- 
tice of those civic virtues which, while they adorn their 
possessor, are the strongest supports of both society and 
government. Laudable ambition is but the directing of 
the forces, and powers that fill the soul in the channel 
of the highest usefulness. To possess talents, and not 
to use them, is to bury one's treasures in the ground. 
To possess them, and to use them improperly, is to act 
as does the madman, who exerts his physical strength 
to the injury of every one he meets. The object of all 
laudable ambition is to deserve the plaudits of men for 
acts beneficial to mankind; and the highest encomium 
that one man can pay to another is to be able to say 
of him : lie refused the powers that he could not exer- 
cise without injury to others. In its incipiency, laudable 
ambition is but the wail of the soul after those objects 
in the possible future which will bring it nearer to 
Tnith — nearer to the summit where sits — sedct cctcrnumque 
scdcbit — the Spirit of Wisdom and Knowledge. There is 
no taint of sin in such ambition. It is but the putting 
to profitable use of the talents given into the keeping 
of certain of His creatures by Him to whom all service 
is due. 

Every human nature, among the almost endless diver- 
sities of rational existencies, has its own capability for 
a specific work. It is inglorious to shirk the responsi- 
bilities of one's position in life — the obligations, the 
cares, the labors that are incidental to the possession, 
and the putting to proper use, of special mental endow- 
ments. The color taken by ambition is derived from the 



His Private Life. 11 



motives to which it owes its existence. If these be pure, 
if they be unselfish — -that is, if they be directed to no 
g:ood that will not also prove a good unto others — then 
is one's ambition no emanation from the abyss of de- 
praved nature, but a spark from that Living- Intelligence 
from ^Yhom it originally descended, and toward Whom 
it must ever tend by the law of its nature. 

Lazarus W. Powell was born in Henderson county, 
Kentucky, on the Glh day of October, 1812. His fatlier, 
Capt. Lazarus Po\vell,* only a few jears previous to the 
birth of the subject of our memoir, had settled on a tract 
of land lying twelve miles south of the village of Hender- 
son, on the Morganfield road. Here he still resides, at 
the advanced age of ninety years. His mother was the 
daughter of Capt. James McMahon, of Henderson county. 
This gentleman had served in the ranks of the Kentucky 
volunteers in the war of 1812. He was a man of strong 
native intellect, but exceedingly eccenti'ic in mannei- and 
habits. Though both of the late Governor's parents were 
possessed of average natural talents, neither had ever 
enjoyed the benefits of intellectual culture beyond its 
simplest rudiments. Lazarus was their third son. Three 
of his brothers still survive, and one sister, the estimable 
Avife of the Rev. D. H. Deacon, Rector of St. Paul's Epis- 
copal Church, Henderson, Kentucky. 

The boy, Lazarus \V. Powell, at a very early age, be- 
gan to exhibit those traits of character which, in their 
fuller development, caused him to be loved and respected 
wherever he was known. When he had arrived at fin 
age to be able to appreciate the advantages of education, 
he used diligently the very inadequate means that were 

* In the prime of his life, Capt. Powell was recognized as a man of vigor- 
ous mind, and was noted for his energy of character. He accumulated a 
large estate, the greater part of which has been distributed among his chil- 
dren. He retained the old homestead, where he still resides. At the date 
of the Emancipation Proclamation, he was the owner of a large number of 
valuable slaves. 



12 Lazarus W. Powell. 

within his reach to acquire knowledge. The school he 
first attended was a primary one kept by a Mr. Ewell 
WiLSo>f, in the village of Henderson. Here he learned to 
read and write. Later, he became a pupil of the late 
George Gayle, Esq., a gentleman of rare talents and at- 
tainments, under whose tuition he acquired a fair aca- 
demical education.* 

Young Powell wa.s a manly youth, ingenuous and 
truthful, and not a little ambitious. He had scarcely 
reached the age of eighteen before he had marked out for 
himself a pathway in life and chosen the profession in 
which he hoped to acquire a moderate competency, and, 
possibly, the other results of a reasonable ambition. He 
did not say— for his aspirations were all civic — 

" The world's mine oyster, 

Which I with sword will opeu — ' 

but with a like spirit that breathee through this immortal 
sentiment of the world's greatest poet, he pursued his 
course, and allowed no obstacle to interpose between his 
will to do and the accomplishment of the act he so willed. 
Few farmers in Kentucky, at the time to which we re- 
fer (1830), were possessed of any great abundance of 
ready means ; and thus it turned out, when young Powell 
was preparing to carry out his design of entering upon 
the study of the Law, that his father was only enabled to 
furnish him with a sum of money that was quite insufficient 
to cover the expenses incident to the position he expected 
to occupy. Early in the month of June, 1830, the young 

* Mr. Gaylb was a firm believer in the efficacy of the rod as an aid to the 
impartment of knowled<fe. He was quick-tempered, but was seldom unjust, 
whether in the bestowal of praise or punishment. He was eminently suc- 
cessful as an instructor of youth, and his memory is warmly cherished to 
this day by a large number of his former pupils. After he had accumulated 
a fortune ample enough for all his wants, he still continued to teach for ser- 
eral years, on account, as it is believed, of his love for the profession. In 
October, 1862, his errand-daughter, Miss Maky A. Alves, was united in mar- 
riage with Heney Powell, Esq., the eldest son of the late Governor. 



His Private Life. 13 



man rode over to the town of Owensboro, the county seat 
of the adjoining county of Daviess, for the purpose of con- 
sulting with an old legal friend of his father's, the late 
Hon. Philip Thompson.* This gentleman was then en- 
gaged in a large practice in the circuit presided over by 
the Hon. Alney McLean.! Mr. Thompson readily assented 
to Powell's wish to enter his office as a student. He soon 
discovered, however, that the insufficiency of his young 
friend's educational attainments would be a great draw- 
back to his hoped-for success in the undertaking upon 
which he had entered, and he urged upon him the neces- 
sity of suspending his legal studies until he could avail 
himself of the advantages of a classical education. 

This was a great blow to Powell's hopes. He had the 
good sense, however, to see that the advice that had been 
given him was the result of a kindly intei-est in his affairs. 
Returning home, he set about revolving in his mind the 
unlooked-for difficulty and the means at his disposal 
for overcoming it. The result of his self-communing 
was a determination to visit Bardstown, then the seat of 
one of the best literary institutions in the State. Having 
obtained from Mr. Thompson a letter of introduction to 
the Hon. John Rowan, § an old friend of the writer, he 

*The Hon. Philip Thompson was a lawyer of great ability. He was a 
member of Congress from his district from 1823 to 1825. He was killed by 
one Jeffries in a street fight in Owensboro, in 1836. 

tThe Hon. Alney McLean resided in Greenville, Muhlenburg county, 
where he died in 1842. He commanded a company of Kentucky Volunteers 
at the battle of New Orleans; also a company in Gen. Hopkins' campaign 
against the Indians. He served his district in the Congress of the United 
States from 1815 to 1817, and from 1819 to 1821. He was for many years a 
circuit judge, a position that he occupied at the date of his death. He was 
a man of superior ability, of great popularity, and of high moral character. 

? Judge Rowan was born in Pennsylvania, in 1773; emigrated to Kentucky 
when quite young; was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 
1799, and Secretary of State in 1804. He was a member of Congress from 
1807 to 1809; Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1819, and a Senator in 
Congress from 1825 to 1831. He died in Louisville, Ky., July I3th, 1843. 
Judge Rowan was a Democrat of the Jefl'ersoniaa school. That he should 



14 Lazarus W. Powell. 

set out for Bardstowii, at which place he arrived in the 
first week of September, 1830. His entire riches con- 
sisted of the horse he rode and less than one hundred 
dollars in money. 

He took early occasion to present his friend's letter to 
Judge Rowan, and was by that true gentleman treated 
M'ith a degree of kindness and interest which he ever 
afterwards remembered and spoke of in terms of the 
deepest gratitude. Judge Rowan was, perhaps, the most 
learned man of his profession in the State. In order to 
test the qualifications of the young man for the pro- 
fession which he had chosen, he introduced into their 
conversation certain literary, scientific, and historical 
questions, which he deemed it important that every one 
should be acquainted v\dth who had any thought of en- 
tering upon the study of the Law. The result was as 
unsatisfactor}', in regard to young Powell's scholastic 
attainments, as had been his former trial before Mr. 
Thompson. His natural good sense, however, and his 
evident candor, made a most favorable impression on the 
erudite statesman, and again he was strongly advised to 
apply himself to the acquisition of a thorough collegiate 
education. 

With becoming modesty the young man acknowledged 
to Judge Row^an that he had not sufficient means to defray 

have been strongly inimical to the Whig policy, of which Mr. Clay was the 
chief exponent and champion in Kentucky, was but natural. But he gave to 
Mr. Clay little credit for exalted mental gifts, and less for statesmanship. 
He was often heard to express the opinion that Daniel Webster was much 
the superior man. He could not understand why it was that the Massachu- 
setts statesman was so much in the habit, as he expressed it, of "plaj'- 
ing second fiddle'' to one so greatly his inferior. Speaking, on a certain 
occasion, of the distinguishing characteristics of these eminent men, he 
illustrated his idea by the following supposed case: "If,' said he, "the two 
should happen to go duck-shooting together, Mr. Clay would expect Mr. 
Webster to assume the office of spaniel to bring out the birds, and the latter 
would not be able to perceive that there was any degradation in his assump- 
tion of such an office." 



His Private Life. 15 

the necessary expenses of a college course of studies. 
Having arrived at the details of his present means and. 
future prospects, Judge Rowan gave him hopes that the 
particular difficulty might be overcome. He told him 
that he was well acquainted with the Faculty and Pro- 
fessors of St. Joseph's College, and that, having some 
influence with them, he thought it highly probable that 
he would be able to arrange with them for his immediate 
matriculation and subsequent tuition. 

Early the following morning Judge Rowan accom- 
panied the young man to the college, where he was 
formally introduced to the President, the late Rev. 
George A. M. Elder.* Mr. Elder was a man of the 
kindest impulses. He was also an excellent judge of 
character. The manly appearance of young Powell, 
his candor in stating his wishes and the inadequate 
means he possessed toward their realization, together 
with his evident disinclination to accept of unusual 
terms, or such as would compromise his own independ- 
ence, all deeply interested the good ecclesiastic. Other 
members of the Faculty were called to the consultation, 
and, before they separated, the name of Lazarus W. 

* Mr. Elder was a thoroughly loveable man. Though he occupied, for 
nearly twenty years, the post of Pre5idcnt of a college in which were 
domiciled from one hundred and fifty to three hundred young men and 
boys — a large proportion of whom were natives of Louisiana and Mississippi, 
and, consequently, if there be any truth in the generally accepted saying, 
"a hot sun breeds a hot temper," may be supposed to have been difficult 
of control — he was never known to have had an enemy in the college. He 
had evidently studied human nature to some purpose. He won the hearts 
of all by making it clear to the perception of all that he possessed himself 
the most loving of hearts. He died at Bardstown, in the year 1838. The 
writer of this was seated, on the evening of his death, in the parlor of a 
friend, since deceased, and was conversing with several members of his 
family, when suddenly the tolling of the Cathedral Iiell hushed our voices 
into awe. Not a word was spoken until the iron clang had again thrilled 
through our ears, when, with a choking sob, one of the ladies present ex- 
claimed, "0 God, he is dead!" Few were the homes, indeed, wherein was 
heard that tolling bell, that tears and sighs and prayers were not its fitting 
accompaniment. 



16 Lazarus W. Powell. 

Powell was duly entered on the college register. It 
is scarcely necessary to state that every obligation 
entered into by Mr. Powell with the Faculty of St. 
Joseph's College was afterwards fully redeemed. 

To say that young Powell was what is termed popular 
with both his Professors and his fellow-students, would 
inadequately express the general sentiment with which 
he was regarded in college. By the former he was 
beloved to a degree that can only be fully understood 
when reference is made to the bond that exists between 
parent and child. He was the pride of the latter, ad- 
mired and looked up to as something to be made much 
of and copied after. There was no waywardness in their 
feelings toward their idol, because there was no blot on 
his escutcheon. He was listened to, and his advice fol- 
lowed, because of their respect for his character and 
their confidence in his judgment. Who can measure 
the restraining influence of such a mind over the weak- 
nesses and latent propensities to evil of less steadfast 
associates? His young companions learned to respect 
virtue, principle, assiduity, and goodness, because of all 
these their friend was ever the consistent exponent. 

Boys from fourteen to twenty are very frequently more 
zealous political partisans than are their elders. This 
was certainly the case with the students at St. Joseph's 
in 1830-3. Powell had been nurtured, as it were, in the 
principles of the Democratic party. The great majority 
of his fellow-students, on the contrary, had imbibed other 
notions — those that had for their chief exponent at the 
time the great Whig leader, Henry Clay. Controversies 
often arose between the students on the merits of the 
political questions which were then dividing public senti- 
ment, and in these there was, no doubt, exhibited as 
much bitterness as usually accompanies disputes on any 
deeply interesting topic. Had the subject of our me- 
moir been anything else than the man he was — sincere, 



His Private Life. 17 

but calmly demonstrative — able to distinguish between 
political heresies and the motives which incline men to 
their adoption — he would scarcely have been accorded, as 
he was, the championship of the entire school in every- 
thing in which a general interest was excited outside 
of politics. No matter what were the partisan views 
of any one of his fellow-students, it was impossible that 
he should not respect the party that had an advocate so 
entirely candid, and yet so cautious about giving offense 
to others. Throughout his whole political career, in 
after years, there was no wavering on the part of his 
old fellow-students, when it was question of saying a 
kind word or of doing a kind thing, for one who had 
so much endeared himself to their hearts. 

" It may be stated," writes one of his fellows-students 
to the Committee, " with entire truth, that the standard 
of Governor Powell's scholarship would have been im- 
proved, had he passed though college at a less rapid 
pace." He adds : " Poverty and ambition stimulated him 
to great exertion, and he graduated in the class of 1833, 
which numbered some of the sprightliest and ablest minds 
in the South and Southwest.* " 

"■•■The class of gvaduates at St. Joseph's College for 1833 numbered eight 
individuals, viz: Lazarus W. Powell, of Kentucky; R. F. Alpointe, of 
Louisiana; G. W. Rhodes, of Kentucky; J. B. Maddox, of Louisiana; A. 
Le Blanc, of Louisiana; R. C. Brashear, of Kentucky; Thos. H. Duval, 
of Kentucky, and Wm. Howard, ot Kentucky. Of these, R. C. Brashear 
fell at the Alamo, in the war for the independence of Texas. Thos. H. 
Duval studied law, and removed to Texas, where he became a circuit judge, 
and was afterwards Secretary of State. F. R. Alpointu; studied medicine, 
and became, and is now, an eminent physician in New Orleans. In regard 
to the other members of the class of 1833, with the exception of Governor 
Powell, we have no knowledge concerning their after career. 

Others of Governor Powell's fellow-students at St. Joseph's were: The 
late Hon. George Alfred Caldwell, of Louisville, a gallant officer in the 
war with Mexico, and a Representative in Congress from Kentucky from 
1843 to 1845, and from 1849 to 1851; the Hon. Robt. Wickliffe, late Gov- 
ernor of Louisiana; Judge Richard A. Buckner, of Lexington, Ky.; the 
2 



Lazarus W. Powell. 



Among the college friendships formed by Powell while 
pursuing his studies at St. Joseph's was one which 
we cannot forbear mentioning. Clement C. Spalding, a 
younger brother of the present Archbishop of Baltimore 
and of R. M. Spalding, Esq., the member from Marion 
county of the present House of Representatives of Ken- 
tucky, was pursuing his studies in the same institution 
during the entire term of Mr. Powell's college course. 
His was regarded as the brightest intellect there. Though 
his graduation took place a year later — in the class of 
1834 — his scholastic attainments were, even then, in 
some respects, of a higher order than those of Powell. 
Between the two, from the date of the latter's introduc- 
tion to the school, there sprung up a friendship so warm 
that it was the subject of general observation among the 
students. They were the recognized leaders of the va- 
rious debating clubs that had been organized in the insti- 
tution, and it was in these clubs that they first essayed 
their powers of logic as well as of oratorical display.* 

Early in August of the year 1833, only a few days after 
Ids graduation;^Mr. Powell entered the law office of the 
Hon. John Rowan, of Bardstown, Kentucky, for the pur- 
pose of resuming his legal studies, which had been inter- 

Hon, Thomas C. McCreery, Senator in Congress from Kentucky; Col. S. B. 
Churchill, Secretary of State of Kentucky; Samuel Glover, Esq., one of 
the most prominent lawyers of Missouri, now residing in St. Louis; Joshua 
F. and John J. Speed, Esqs., of Louisville, and the Hon. Otho R. Singleton, 
a Representative in Congress from Mississippi from 1853 to 1859. 

* Having finished h]s college course, C. C. Spalding studied law, and, in 
1836, entered upon the practice in Alexandria, La. His great ability, to- 
gether with his strict probity and attention to business, soon enabled him to 
take a high rank in his profession. In 1837, while on his way to Kentucky 
to visit his relations, he was taken sick, and only reached Bardstown to die 
in that place on the 23d of July, 1837. Those who had frequent opportu 
nities to see and converse with Governor Powell will remember how fond 
he was of speaking of his deceased friend. Never, to the end of his life, 
did he cease to remember and to mourn over the great loss sustained by 
himself and the country in the early death of one so worthy to be loved, 
and of i;uch brilliant promise. 



His Private Life. 19 



rupted by his collegre course. The studious habits which 
so remarkably distinguished him while passing through 
college, equally characterized him in liis new position. 
He brought all the powers of his mind to bear upon the 
acquirement, within the least possible period of time, of 
that sum of knowledge of his profession which would 
enable him to look forward to an honoral)le career in life. 
He was happy in having for his legal preceptor one of 
the master-minds of his day and tlie country. Judge 
Rowan was not only a well-i'ead lawyer, but he was also 
a profound scholar and a man of the rarest natural intel- 
ligence. His diction was always elegant, and he spoke 
without seeming effort. 

A^ever have two men of acknowledged genius presented 
so marked a contrast in almost every particular as did 
.Tudge Rowan and his celebrated rival at the bar, the late 
Hon. Ben. Hardin. In every thing, except genius, they 
were each the antithesis of the other. Rowan had a com- 
manding presence; he was tall and robust in person ; in 
speaking, his voice was sonorous and his action graceful; 
his speeches were filled with classical allusions ; his sen- 
-tences were never faulty, whether in rythm or grammati- 
cal construction; he always dressed with care, but never 
with ostentation. He was himself the soul of integrity, 
and nothing ever so moved him to a display of indignation 
as the lapses of his colleagues from a correct estimate of 
the honorable character of the profession into the domain 
of artifice.* He was immeasurably the superior of his 

* The writer was himself a witness, ou a certain occasion, of a scene in 
the Circuit Court room of Nelson county, Ky., which strongly exemplifies 
the statement in the text. An old citizen of the town had recently died, and 
he had left his widow, with a large family of children, in straightened cir- 
cumstances. A wealthy creditor of the estate had determined, by the 
advice of an attorney whose general character was that of a legal trickster, 
to institute a suit for the avowed object of recovering his debt, hut which, 
if successful, would have the effect to deprive the widow of her homestead — 
a right to which the law then gave to her during life. At the moment when 
the motion was being laid before the Court by the plaintiff's attorney, Judge 



20 Lazarus W. Powell, 

rival in his ability to touch the hearts of his hearers by 
sympathetic appeals. He was his inferior in repartee, 
and in the use of strong invectives. He was his inferior, 
also, in that quickness of perception which enabled Mr. 
Hardin to take advantage of every legal quibble, every 
blunder of opposing counsel, and every circumstance re- 
ferred to in the wdtness-box, that could possibly benefit 
his case. 

The Hon. Ben. Hardin, or "Old Kitchen Knife" — by 
which soubriquet he was afterwards known in the Con- 
gress of the United States — was undoubtedly one of the 
shrewdest advocates that w^as ever entrusted with a client's 
interests in any court of the Commonwealth. He affected 
a simplicity in dress that approached slovenliness. He 
was lank in person, slightly stooping from middle age, and 
exceedingly restless in manner. During the progress of 
any important cause in which he had been retained, he 
might be seen pacing the body of the court-house — with- 
out the bar, but within hearing of the proceedings — his 
hands clasped behind his back, and muttering to himself 
all the while — and thus were prepared many of his most 
elaborate arguments. His voice was sharp and piercing, 
and he was strongly energetic, both in action and delivery. 
Wit — drollery — sarcasm — invective — these were his chief 
forensic weapons, and terrible weapons they generally 
proved in his hands. His many political canvasses are to 
this day frequently talked about by the older citizens of 
Nelson and the adjoining counties. He possessed, in an 
eminent degree, the faculty of adapting himself to all 

Rowan happened to be sitting before a table witliin the bar, apparently en- 
gaged in arranging a nnmber of papers that lay before him. The name of 
his deceased friend struck upon his ear while the motion was being read, 
and he was seen to assume a listening attitude. As the reading proceeded, 
the old man rose to his feet, and scarcely had the tricky lawyer concluded, 
when he found himself and his client the subjects of the most scathing rebuke 
that was ever uttered by mortal lips in that little old court-house. The at- 
torney sneaked away, crestfallen, and, thanks to her unfeed advocate, the 
widow was permitted to retain possession of her homestead. 



His Private Life. 21 

classes of men. At one time he would appear to be as 
deeply interested in the result of a foot-race, or a wrest- 
ling match, as the most ignorant boor on the ground ; and 
at other times he would discuss agriculture with the farm- 
ers, domestic matters with their wives, science with the 
learned, and politics with everybody. With talents so 
diversified, it is not to be wondered at that he shoi'ild have 
acquired, in the course of time, a reputation for sincerity 
that was not particularly enviable.* 

In addition to the two distinguished personages named, 
the bar of Bardstown, in 1833, was enriched by the prac- 
tice of several scarcely inferior minds. The most noted 
among these were the Hon. Chas. A. Wickliffe, f afie - 

"•■•At home it was a coramoQ occurrence with Mr. Hardin to address the 
court or Jury in his shirt-sleeves. When engaged in legal work outside of 
his own district, especially in places where he was little known, he was 
observant of the proprieties of his position until he happened to become 
heated iu argument, and then, tirst his cravat would be snatched off and 
cast aside; next, the collar and wristbands of his shirt would be unbuttoned 
and thrown back; and, finally, long before he came to the peroration of his 
discourse, especially if the weather was at all sultry, off would come his 
coat and waistcoat, and then, as nearly in puris naturatibus as it was possible 
for him in decency to go, he would thunder out invectives against some 
unfortunate litigant, or some still more unfortunate criminal, in a style that 
was not unfrequently fully iu keeping with the tastes of his rough auditorj^ 
The death of Mr. Hardin took place at Bardstown, in February, 1854. 
He was at the time a State Senator from the Nineteenth Senatorial District. 

tThe Hon. Chas. A. Wickliffe is a native of Bardstown, Kentucky, 
where he was born in 1788. He served in the war of 1812, and was present 
at the battle of the Thames. Having served in the State Legislature for 
several terms, he was elected a Representative in Congress from his district 
in 1823, in which position he remained for ten years. In 183G he was 
elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, and on the death of Gov. Clark, 
in 1839, he became Acting Governor. In 1841 he was appointed Post- 
Master General by President Tyler. In 1861 — having previously been a 
member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1849 — he again became 
a Representative in Congress from the Bardstown district. . He was a 
member of the Peace Convention held in the same year. In 18(i2 he was 
a candidate for Governor, but was defeated through the iustruinciitality of 
the military tliat then occupied the State. He still resides on his place in 
the vicinity of Bardstown, but for several months has been suffering from 
a disease of the nerves of the eye, which has entirely deprived him of sight. 



32 Lazarus W. Powell. 

wards Governor of the State and Representative in 
Congress, vi^ho still survives, and the late Benj. Chapeze, 
Esq., a lawyer of profound legal attainments, and a gen- 
tleman widely known and esteemed for his moral worth. 

The advantages which intercourse v^ith such minds 
afforded an ardent student like young Powell, undoubt- 
edly proved of great value to him in after life. He 
learned to contrast their powers, to subject their argu- 
ments to the test of his own reason, and thus to distin- 
guish between logic and sophistry. He learned, too, 
under the inspiration of their impassioned eloquence, 
how to touch the hearts of the people, how to win their 
confidence and respect. 

At the time of which we are speaking, the entire gov- 
ernment of the country, both State and Federal, was in 
the hands of members of the legal profession. There 
,were few other than lawyers to be found in any depart- 
ment of either government. In consequence of this state 
of things, the profession of the Law was almost the only 
avenue that led to political distinction. The gentlemen 
already named were all politicians, as was also, with 
rare exceptions, the entire legal body of the country. 
In choosing the Law for his profession, there is room to 
doubt if young Powell was actuated by any other motive 
than the usual one with persons starting out in life — that 
of acquiring a competency in the manner most suited 
to his tastes. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that 
the circumstances surrounding him at Bardstown — the 
deep interest manifested by his preceptor and those with 
whom he w^as associated in the political issues of the 
day — should have bred in him a taste for political con- 
troversy, and eventually the desire to take part in the 
business of legislation. 

Mr. Powell remained in the office of Judge Rowan until 
the winter of 1834-5, when he repaired to Lexington, wilh 
the view of attending a course of Law Lectures at Tran- 



His Private Life. 23 

sylvania University. The Law Professors of the term were 
the Hon. George Robertson* and the Hon. Daniel Mayes. 
The former of these, even then, was regarded as the most 
profound legal theorist in the State. His present reputa- 
tion is as wide as the country — his pupils filling exalted 
positions in almost every State of the Union and in the 
National Legislature. The rank accorded to Judge 
Mayes in his profession was but a little lower than that 
held by his gifted associate. He held for several years 
the position of Circuit Court Judge in the counties which 
then formed the Frankfort Judicial District. He was re- 
markably distinguished for the conciseness of his decis- 
ions. In these, the law, in its relations to the entire 
cause and the evidence adduced, was clearly stated, in 
language that was always clear and pointed. f 

"■■■ Judge Robertson is certainly one of the most remarkable men of his 
day and country. Though nearly eighty years old, he is now actively en- 
gaged in performing the duties of a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, 
with mental powers npparently as bright as at any previous day of his long 
and useful career. In the year 1817, at the age of twenty-six, he was elected 
to the United States Congress from the Garrard district; since when, he has 
filled the offices of Representative in the State Legislature, in which he 
was Speaker of the House for four sessions. Secretary of State, Judge of 
the Appellate Court, and Chief Justice. He has repeatedly declined im- 
portant offices, including missi(jn3 to Columbia and Peru. The ability uni- 
formly" dispia^-ed by Judge Robertson in the discharge of the duties of these 
various offices is acknowledged on every hand, not only by his political 
friends and associates, but by those who were at times bitterly opposed to his 
course. For more than twenty years he filled the position of Law Professor 
at Transylvania University. It is said that he has instructed in their pro- 
fession no fewer thun three thousand lawyers, over two thousand of whom 
graduated under his personal instruction. Notwithstanding the fact that 
Judge Robertson and Gov. Powell entertained diametrically opposite views 
of politics, they were warm personal friends to the end of the latter's life. 
Judge R. visited Washington during Gov. Powell's Senatorial term, and he 
was often afterwards heard to express his high sense of the latter's courte- 
ous attentions to him on that occasion. It was, at one time, the earnest 
desire of Powell to place his two elder sons under the control aud tuition of 
his old preceptor, but circumstances prevented the consummation of his 
wishes in this respect. 

tThe late Isham Henderson, Esq., then a leading practitioner on the Shel- 
by circuit, was once heard to remark: "Since Judge Mayes has been on the 



24 Lazarus W. Powell. 

Not only was Powell assiduous in study during his 
stay in Lexington, and prompt in his attendance at the 
University Lectures, but he let no occasion pass in which 
it was possible for him to acquire a knowledge of the 
practical part of his profession, by making himself famil- 
iar with the proceedings of the Courts of Law, when 
these happened to be in session. The bar of Lexington 
had one advantage over that of Bardstown : the number 
of its prominent members was much greater. Among 
the resident practicing attorneys then in Lexington could 
be named such men as the Hon. Henry Clay, the Hon. 
Robert Wickliffe, Judge Thos. M. Hickey, A. K. Wool- 
ley, Esq., Charlton Hunt, Esq., James Cowan, Esq., and 
Madison C. Johnson, Esq., the latter being then a young 
man, but giving promise of the high reputation in his 
profession which he has since acquired. 

The law session at Transylvania over, Mr. Powell 
returned to Henderson in the spring of 1835, where he 
opened an office and sought for business in the line of his 
profession. His success equaled his expectations from 
the first ; but, a few months later, having formed a part- 
nership with the leading practitioner at the Henderson 
bar, Archibald Dixon, Esq.,* he was at once placed on 

bench be has saved me a great deal of trouble. I have only to state my 
positions, without being under the necessity of instructing the Court, in long 
arguments, upon the law of the case." Judge Mayes removed to Mississippi 
many years ago, and died at Jackson, in that State, some time before the 
breaking out of the late civil war. 

"'•■The Hon. Archibald Dixon was born in North Carolina on the 2d of 
April, 1802. His father removed to Kentucky in 1804, and settled in Hen- 
derson county, where his son was reared and educated, and where he has 
since resided. He had no advantages of early education beyond those 
afforded in the "old field" school-houses of the neighborhood. His own 
energy and industry supplied the deficiency, and he soon took high rank in 
the profession which he adopted. He began the practice of the law in 
Henderson in the year 1825, and was eminently successful from that period 
until his final retirement from the active duties of the profession in 1860. 
He was elected to the Legislature of Kentucky in 1830, over Hugh McElkoy, 
Esq., the Democratic candidate. In 1836 he was elected to the Kentucky 



His Private Life. 25 



the high road to that eminence as a lawyer which he 
afterwards attained, as well as to the substantial remun- 
erative benefits of an extended practice. His business 
connection with Mr. Dixon continued till the year 1839. 

State Senate, bis unsuccessful competitor being Dr. John Roberts, of Da- 
viess county. At the close of his Senatorial term he was returned, witiiout 
opposition, as the member from Henderson county, to the Lower House of 
the Legislature for the session of 1841-2. 

In 1844 he was the candidate of the Whig party for the office of Lieuten- 
ant Governor of the State, and was elected over his opponent, W. S. Pilcher) 
Esq., of Louisville, by a handsome majority. He filled this position for four 
years with distinguished ability. In 1849 his name was presented by his 
friends for the position of Delegate to the Convention that had been called 
to form a new Constitution for Kentucky. He was elected to this office, and 
was the Whig candidate for the position of President of the Convention, but 
was beaten, on a party vote, by the Hon. James Guthrie. He took a leading 
part in the debates upon nearly every important question tliat was brought 
before the Convention, and was recognized as one of the ablest members of 
that body. 

In 1850 he was the Whig candidate for Governor of the State. The Hon. 
L. W. Powell, ihe Democratic nominee, and the Hon. Cassius M. Clay, the 
representative of the small abolition faction — then for the first time in the 
history of Southern politics openly coming before the people for their suf- 
frages—were Mr. Dixon's opponents. He was beaten in this race by Mr. 
Powell by a small majority; and, for the first time in many years, the 
control of the State Government was transferred from the long dominant 
Whig party to that which had been so ably and successfully championed by 
his Democratic competitor. 

In 1851 he was elected to the United States Senate, to fill the unexpired 
term of the Hon. Henry Clay, whose failing health demanded his release 
from public service. In this new field, though suttering for most of the time 
from an annoying chronic complaint, he greatly distinguished himself by 
his able advocacy of the various measures of puolic policy which were from 
time to time brought forward by his party. He will long be remembered in 
the history of his country as the author of the famous Kansas-Nebraska 
bill — as accepted by Mr. Douglas — repealing the Missouri Compromise meas- 
ure of a former Congress. While many persons, in the light of the conse- 
quences which have flowed from it, may reasonably doubt of the policy of 
this measure, no Southern man will likely question its entire jiaiivc In 
1862, Governor Dixon was elected to the Border State Convention, which 
assembled at Frankfort, and, together with the Hon. John J. Crittenden 
and other distinguished men, endeavored to prevent the disasters of war by 
the recommendation of measures of conciliation and compromise. This was 
his last public service. 



26 Lazarus W. Powell. 

Governor Powell's reputation as a lawyer M^as not 
built upon any peculiar talent possessed by him for 
forensic display. In his addresses, to be sure, whether 
to the court or to the jury, he was always forcible, and 
often eloquent. But he depended more for his legal 
triumphs upon the careful analysis of his causes. It 
was his invariable custom to come into court fully pre- 
pared to meet the objections of opposing counsel, with 
his authorities before him, whether as to the law bearing 
upon the case, or to previous judicial decisions. Owing 
to this custom, he was always a formidable antagonist 
in the courts in which he practiced. What he lacked 
in readiness of suggestion, had its full compensation in 
the preliminary care wdiieh he never failed to bestow 
upon each particular cause as it came into his hands. 
His wonderful success in his profession is more to be 
attributed to this fact than to any other. 

On the 8th day of November, 1837, Lazarus W. Powell 
was united in marriage Mdth Miss Harriet Ann Jennings, 
the orphan daughter of Capt. Charles Jennings, deceased, 
who had been an esteemed and prosperous citizen of 
Henderson county. During her brief life, Mrs. Powell 
bore to her husband three sons, all of whom are still 
living, and are highly respected citizens of the commu- 
nity that had so long delighted to honor their father. 
The death of Mrs. Powell took place on the 30th day of 
July, 184(3; and, to use the expression of one of the late 
Governor's eulogists " for her sake he ever afterwards 
devoted to the children she had left to his care all the 
wealth of his manly and magnanimous heart." 

When not occupied by official duties during the prog- 
ress of the civil war. Governor Powell spent most of his 
time at his home in Henderson, and in overlooking the 
farming operations upon his plantations in the county. 
This was for him, as it was for thousands of others in 
the State, a period of great anxiety. Suspected by the 



His Private Life. 27 



government military officials, who had, for the greater 
portion of the time, complete control in the river towns, 
on account of his well-known antipathy to the bloody 
method that had been adopted to preserve the integrity 
of the Union ; saddened at the sight of the utter ruin 
wdiich the war had brought upon many of his neighbors, 
and which was threatening others; disgusted with the 
cruelties of the vengeful military despots who were then 
ruling Kentuck}^ and whose so-called retaliatory meas- 
ures were continually involving the lives and liberties 
of innocent men ; indignant at the shameful venality 
of some among these same despots and their pliant 
subordinates, and at their contemptuous disregard of 
even the forms of State laws, in taking upon themselves 
all control over the elective fi-anchise- — Governor Powkll, 
no doubt, felt these years of the war to be the saddest 
of his life. 

Always circumspect in his conduct, and, for one of 
his known views, in a certain degree trusted in by the 
autliorities at Washington, he was enabled to serve many 
wdio had become invoh ed in the ti'oubles of the times, 
not only in his own section, but throughout the South, 
and never was his inliuence asked for in vain by a 
worthy object. His means, too, were dispensed \\'ith a 
lavish hand to those who found themselves reduced to 
poverty by the military raids which were of common 
occui-rence in his own and the neighboring counties of 
Southern Kentucky. Whether the sufferer happened to 
be attached to one cause or the other, it was all the same 
with him. Human misery was a plea that never failed 
to awaken in him active sympathy, and with this plea 
he never permitted consideration of party affinity, nor 
even of policy, to interfere. 

Wlien the war finally closed, Goyei-nor Powell entered 
upon the practice of his profession with more energy 
than had ever before distinguished him, save during the 



28 Lazarus W. Powell. 

first years of his professional career. Tliis was most 
probably done with the view of introducing his eldest 
soij, who had then become associated with him in the 
practice of the law, into the routine of his profession. 
Up to the time of his mission to Utah, in 1858, he had 
been a great sufferer from a rheumatic afl^ection ; and 
though he had since been apparently entirely relieved 
from the disorder, his nervous system, in consequence of 
its ravages, as he thought himself, had remained after- 
wards in an exceedingly delicate condition. Seeing 
him immersed in business, and, to all appearance, as 
anxious in its prosecution as he had been when starting 
out in life, thirty years before, there were those among 
his friends who doubted if his physical strength was 
equal to the labor he was imposing on himself. On 
Wednesday of the last week in June, 18G7, he appeared 
for the last time in the streets of Henderson a living 
man. 

After a day of some fatigue, induced, possibly, more 
from the shattered condition of his nerves than from any 
great amount of physical or mental labor, he returned to 
his house and immediately retired to his room. Nothing 
was thought of this circumstance until the following 
morning, when he was found to be seriously ill. The 
family physician, Dr. Pinkney Thompson, was at once 
called in. The report made by this gentleman was suf- 
ficiently alarming ; but neither did he nor the members 
of the Governor's family at first appi-ehend a fatal ter- 
mination of his sickness. It was at first supposed that 
his disease was a slight attack of congestion of the brain. 
A subsequent examination proved that a blood-vessel at 
the base of the brain had become ruptured, and that this 
had induced apoplexy, followed by a partial paralysis 
of the right side, and, eventually, of the whole body. 
During Thursday and Friday he was enabled to distin- 
guish his friends as they approached his bedside. Hi^ 



His Private Life. 29 

physician called to his assistance Dr. John T. Berry, of 
Henderson, and Dr. M. G. Bray, of Evansville, Indiana. 
Their consultation took place on Saturday, and the result 
was a sorrowful acknowledgment that the case was hope- 
less. 

When this opinion was made known among the Gov- 
ernor's neighbors and fellow-citizens, the etiect was as 
if an impending calamity were threatening their own 
hearth-stones. Business appeared to be forgotten, and 
men and women gathered together in knots, brooding 
sadly, and speaking in whispers of the one absorbing 
topic which filled their thoughts. In the meanwhile the 
Governor lay in a comatose state, from which it was 
difficult to arouse him, at intervals, in order to administer 
such alleviatives as had been prescribed by his physicians. 
On Sunday, the last day of the month, his friend and 
neighbor. Grant Green, Esq., made a persistent attempt 
to arouse him from the stupor by which he was over- 
come, and with such success, that faint hopes were 
induced of his ultimate recovery. On the following 
morning, however, he again relapsed into unconscious- 
ness, and thus continued till death intervened, about 
three o'clock in the evening of .Tuly 3d, 1867.* Greater 
sympathy was never manifested by a community for one 
of its number when stricken, ill, and dying, nor were ever 
sincerer tears shed than when it was announced amona: 



•■■A warm personal iriend of Governor Powell, who was frecjuently with 
him during his last illness, thus writes concerning his death to one of the 
Committee: 

"All the aids of skill and experience, and all that devoted and unremitting 
attention on the part of family and sympathetic friends could accomplish, 
were employed to snatch from the embrace of death this son, dear to his 
State and the nation, this father beloved of his cliildren, this friend enshrined 
in the hearts of all who knew him; but in vain. The fiat had gone forth — 
he had tilled the measure of his fame, and now the silent land of the sleepers 
awaited him. His familj' and a few friends were present when lie died. 
Among these were Mr. Wm. S. Holloway, Mr. Robt. G. Beverly, Mr. Ben. 
M. Winston, Mr. S. Johnston Alves, and the Rev. D. II. Deacon. 



30 Lazarus W. Powell. 

his friends and neighbors that his "spirit had gone to the 
God who gave it." 

The funeral took place on Thursday, the 4th day of 
July, 18G7. Among the pall-bearers were the Hon. Ar- 
chibald Dixon, the Hon. John Law, of Indiana, Grant 
Green, Esq., and W. S. Holloway, Esq. The body was 
borne to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, of which his 
brother-in-law, the Rev. D. H. Deacon, was Rector. 
Every business house and office in the town was closed, 
and almost all were draped in emblems of mourning. 
The Rev. Rector of the church was too much overcome 
to trust himself to speak on the occasion, and his place 
in the pulpit w^as supplied b}^ the Rev. Jahleel Wood- 
bridge, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Henderson. 
The text of the discourse preached by the reverend gen- 
tleman was taken from the 46th chapter of Psalms — Be 
.still, and knoic that I am God. On the announcement of 
the text, a solemn silence .seemed to wrap the entire 
auditory, and this, till the close of the discourse, was 
only broken at intervals by the stifled sobs and smothered 
sighs of stricken hearts, as the eloquent divine glowingly 
pictured the exalted character of him whose cold remains 
lay coffined before them. 

The Masonic body of Henderson, although Governor 
Powell had never belonged to the Order, formed in pro- 
cession and accompanied his remains to the grave. The 
procession of citizens, on the occasion, was the largest 
ever seen in Henderson. In it walked the rich and the 
poor, women and men, and even little children. One 
division of the mourners deserves to be specially noticed. 
This was composed of the newly-created freedmen — his 
own former slaves and those of his neighbors, who had 
known him, many of them, all their lives. They had 
come, some of them, from points ten and fifteen miles 
distant, trudging on foot, in order to pay their tribute 
of respect and gratitude over the grave of one wdio had 



His Private Life. 31 

never ceased to be their best friend and counselor. No 
more genuine sorrow was exhibited on that mournful 
day than was evinced by the blacks of whom ho had 
once been the master, and who, up to the day of his 
death, had been in the habit of addressing him by that 
title. 

Governor Powell was especially distinguished as a 
promoter of innocent hilarity. In his own family circle 
there was little of that hushed propriety which, in many 
American households, is held for gentility. He loved to 
witness thjB mii'thful gambols of his children and their 
young companions, and to hear their voices rising in 
gladful shouts while at their play. Often, indeed, he 
was in the habit of taking part in their diversions, and 
then his own deep bass, in unison with their treble voices, 
formed a concert that was as pleasing to au intelligent 
ear as any that ever gained the plaudits of admiring 
listeners in the world of fashion and of cultivated tastes. 

No more hospitable mansion than that of Governor 
Powell ever opened its doors to the personal friend or 
to the wayfarer. He appeared to delight in the provi- 
dential blessings of fortune which he enjoyed, for the 
sole reason that they enabled him to gratify his hospi- 
table tastes. He was especially fond of gathering about 
him of an evening a coterie of personal friends for 
social enjoyment. These gatherings were as far removed 
from orgies of dissipation as they were from conclaves 
met together for serious discussion. Governor Powell's 
habits in regard to eating and drinking were sufficiently 
abstemious to please an anchorite.* The enjoyment he 
derived from exhibitions of the truly humorous in dis- 
course was with him a marked characteristic. When 
surrounded by gentlemen of like tastes in this particu- 
lar, he always appeared, even when suffering from the 

■•■ Governor Powell was an inveterate tobacco-ckeicer. This was tliu only 
species of dissipation he ever indulged in. 



32 Lazarus W. Powell. 

twinges of his chronic enemy, rheumatism, as if he had 
been immersed in an element that had the property 
to remove all painful sensations. It was only when 
humor degenerated into something akin to vulgarity, 
that its exhibitions palled upon his taste. His laughter 
was contagious. It seemed to well up from a soul over- 
flouring with pleasantness and with kindly human sym- 
pathies. "Never," writes an esteemed correspondent, 
" have I listened to a more hearty laugh than that with 
which Powell was wont to greet the perpetrator of a 
successful joke or witticism." 

During the latter years of his life, the Governor seldom 
spent his evenings away from his own home. When he 
had no visitors, he was in the habit of retiring to his own 
room for study, or in order to prepare the causes in which 
he had been retained. When wearied with these occu- 
pations, he would repair to the apartments of his daugh- 
ter-in-law, and there amuse himself with the prattle of his 
little grand-children. His family mansion was surround- 
ed by ornamental grounds and a large garden. To the 
embellishment of these grounds he devoted many of his 
leisure hours, and found in such employment both health 
and enjoyment. 

One great source of care to Governor Powell, after the 
Proclamation of Emancipation of President Lincoln, was a 
number of helpless blacks — formerly his slaves — who had 
no one else to look to for support and protection. Had 
the Government, when it deprived him of his rights of 
property in those of his slaves who were capable of per- 
forming manual labor, taken upon itself, at the same time, 
the support of those who were incompetent to earn their 
own living, there would have been little hardship in his 
individual case, as there would have been little in thou- 
sands of other cases still more onerous. He might, to be 
sure, had he been a brute, and no man, have evicted the 
aged and infants among his former slaves from his planta- 



His Private Life. 33 

tions, and have suffered them to die of hunger and ex- 
posure on the higliway. Had the war bereft him of all his 
property, as it did hundreds of slave-owners in the South, 
even his well-known humanity could not have stood be- 
tween these poor creatures and destruction. As it was, 
he never thought of them otherwise than as dependents 
on his bounty, whom it was his duty to serve and protect. 
Up to the day of his death, they were fed and clothed at 
his expense, and they are still cared for at the expense of 
his heirs. Had the unmistakable tokens of profound sor- 
row that characterized that portion of the mourners at 
Governor Powell's funeral which was composed of his 
former slaves been witnessed by those whose fanaticism 
brought on the late war and all its horrors, they might 
well have stood in astonishment at a sight so foreign to 
all their notions of the relations that often existed be- 
tween master and slave. 

Governor Powell, though he never professed any par- 
ticular form of Christian faith, was unquestionably a 
firm believer in the truths of Divine Revelation. Many 
expressions are to be found in his speeches which show 
that he was familiar with the Bible, and had for that 
Sacred Book the most profound reverence. There was 
no one in the community in which he lived that was 
more liberal of his means for objects connected with 
religion. He appeared to have no preference for one 
denomination over another, but gave to all with a large- 
hearted liberality that was at once the evidence of his 
regard for religion in general, and of his esteem for those 
whose vocation it was to preach the gospel. His house 
was as free to all ministers of religion, without exception 
as to creed, who happened to be temporarily sojourning 
in the town, as it was to himself. On one occasion, 
which has come to our knowledge, he spoke seriously 
3 



34 Lazarus W. Powell. 

of religion, and of his regret that he had not identified 
himself in profession with the followers of Christ. Con- 
versing with a Christian neighbor, he remarked that he 
had long desired to make himself better acquainted than 
he was with the peculiar doctrines of the various Chris- 
tian Churches, and that it was his intention to enter upon 
this study with the view to the profession of that form of 
faith which should commend itself to his more enlightened 
judgment. 

It is said by some that Governor Powell never exhibit- 
ed any evidence of extraordinary genius. This may be 
true, though there are abundant reasons to doubt it. The 
placidity of his mind was such as to foil observers in their 
attempts to detect the riches concealed in its depths. Of 
the erratic in genius he was certainly totally void. But 
even admitting that he gave to the world no extraordi- 
nary exhibitions of genius, it must be allowed that he 
gave to it what are ordinarily of much more value — ex- 
hibitions of determination in the assertion and defense 
of principles that were directly conservative of the best 
interests of society and government — exhibitions of mod- 
eration and prudence in the performance of duty when 
called to the discharge of high functions in the State ; 
and, in the hour of defeat or of failure, of unshaken con- 
fidence in the ultimate triumph of his own and his party's 
patriotic purposes for the welfare of the nation. He was 
no coward, and he never mistook present failure for final 
defeat. In the darkest hours of the Republic he never 
lost hope — never relinquished his right to appeal to the 
reason of those who were permitting their passions and 
their prejudices to sway their judgments and to control 
their policy. He gave utterance to the convictions of his 
mind, temperately yet firmly, and nevef in language cal- 
culated to alienate the respect of his opponents. How- 
ever they may have doubted, or pretended to doubt, the 



His Private Life. 35 

correctness of his views, they were convinced of his can- 
dor, and did homage to his manhood. 

Gov. Powell well understood, what few public men have 
seemed to learn, that every truly beneficial measure — 
every wholesome reform in government — is to be secured 
and permanently retained only through efforts that have 
for their animus the general good, and not that of a sec- 
tion of the country or a party among the people. He 
may be said to have been a partisan in so far as he had 
definite notions in regard to the structure of the govern- 
ment and the proper policy to be pursued in order to 
promote the prosperity of the country and the happiness 
of the people ; but he was no partisan in the general 
acceptation of the term. He never deferred principle to 
party, or the good of the masses to party success. Above 
all, he could and did distinguish between the individual 
and his party predilections, and never alienated the 
respect of the former by bitter denunciations of the 
latter. 

Coui'tesy, whether in speaking to or about his political 
opponents, was a habit of his mind, and this habit, except 
under the provocation of unmistakable insult, he carried 
with him through life. A distinguished gentleman, occu- 
pying a high position at Washington, thus writes to a 
member of the Committee : 

" In Washington City, Democrats and Radicals speak 
of him as a friend whose loss they deplore. No man 
was ever able to hate Powell long. Several undertook 
it; but he outlived their resentment, and at the date of his 
death he probably had not an enemy on earth." 

What a noble eulogy is this ! It tells us, by implica- 
tion, that he had a just perception of what was due to 
others and what was due to himself. It tells us, also, 
that he possessed a mind that was capable of rising 
above those paltry passions which are, with the majority 



36 Lazarus W. Powell. 

of men, so difficult of restraint in the hearing of false 
representations of facts and motives, of coarse invectives 
or tantalizing inuendoes, coming from one's political or 
personal foes. It tells us, further, that he possessed a 
heart that v^^as all alive to those humane amenities that 
are resistless to propitiate good v\^ill and to curb dissen- 
sion. 



HIS PUBLIC LIFE. 



" What constitutes a State ? 

Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, 
Thick w.all or moated gate; 

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned; 
Not bays or broad-armed ports, 

Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; 
Not starred and spangled courts, 

Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. 
No: men, high-minded men. 

With powers as far above dull brutes endued, 
In forest, brake, or den. 

As brutes excel cold rocks and brambles rude ; 
Men who their duties know. 

But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain. 
Prevent the long-aimed blow. 

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain — 
These constitute a State." [Trans, hy Sir William Jones. 

We can nowhere find a more appropriate introduc- 
tion to our chapter on the Public Life of Gov. Powell 
than the above short poem from the Greek of AlcaBus. 
Lazarus W. Powell was emphatically a man of the 
people. He never distrusted them — never doubted their 
will to preserve free government, nor their ability to 
do so. He knew — none better — that mere listlessness 
on the part of a well-disposed people will occasionally 
subject them to the domination of unworthy rulers. He 
knew, too, that men under our form of government are 
often led to support dangerous measures by reason of 
their too great reliance upon those who advocate them. 
Notwithstanding his knowledge on these points, he never 
could be brought to doubt of the ultimate conservatism 
of the people. He always appeared to feel, even when 



38 Lazarus W. Powell. 

the country seemed to be on the verge of ruin, in conse- 
quence of the evil legislation and the maladministration 
of its chosen agents, that there was a sure and all-suf- 
ficient remedy for every ill under which it was sufiering 
in the hands of the people, which w^as certain to be 
applied in time to prevent the overthrow of the govern- 
mental structure that had been reared by the fathers of 
the Republic. 

In July, 1836, at the earnest solicitation of a number 
of his political friends, Mr. Powell announced himself as 
the Democratic candidate for the office of Representative 
of the county in the Lower House of the Kentucky Leg- 
islature. The Whig party was largely in the ascendency 
in Henderson at the time, and it was more for the object 
of keeping up their organization than with any expecta- 
tion of success, that the party in the minority proposed to 
place a candidate in the field. Mr. Powell's Whig com- 
petitor for the place was John G. Holloway, Esq., a very 
estimable and popular citizen of Henderson. While 
the former industriously canvassed every precinct and 
neighborhood of the county, making friends and securing 
votes everywhere, the latter, relying on the party bias of 
his proposed constituency, made little or no exertion to 
win iheir confidence ; and thus he lost his election. The 
result was as unlooked for by both parties as it ^vas highly 
honorable to the industry and address of the successful 
candidate. 

During the sessions of the General Assembly which 
followed his election, Mr. Powell proved himself a care- 
ful legislator. He was especially attentive to his duties 
as a member of the various committees upon which he 
had been placed, and was always alive to the interests 
of his constituency and those of the entire State. At 
the next general election he was again a candidate for 
the office which he had so creditably filled for two years. 
Whether it was that, by this time, party lines had become 



His Public Life. 39 



more closely drawn, or that his old competitor had learned 
from his former experience to depend more for success 
upon his personal exertions in the canvass than upon the 
party predilections of the people of the county, certain 
it is, that Mr. Holloway beat him in the race by a con- 
siderable majority. 

In the Presidential canvass of 1844, Mr. Powell ac- 
cepted from his party the position of District Elector, 
and canvassed his own and the neighboring- districts for 
James K. Polk. In this canvass he was brought promi- 
nently before the people of Western Kentucky, and, 
thus far, he laid the foundations of that personal popu- 
larity which afterwards enabled him to serve his party 
in more important positions. Mr. Polk was elected over 
his competitor, the Hon. Henry Clay; but the Democrats 
were defeated in Kentucky. 

In the spring of 1848, the State Democratic Conven- 
tion met at Frankfort, for the purpose of nominating 
candidates for the Executive otHces of the Common- 
wealth, to be voted for at the coming August election. 
The choice of the Convention fell upon the Hon. Lixk 
BoYD,* of McCracken county, for Governor, and the Hon. 
John P. Martin, of Floyd county, for Lieutenant Governor. 
Before the dissolution of the Convention, authority was 
given to the Democratic Central Committee of the State 
to fill all vacancies, if any, that should occur on the 
ticket proposed, by declination or otherwise. Upon be- 
ing informed as to the action of the Convention, Mr. 
Boyd, in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the State 

*The Hon Linn Boyd, at the time referred to in the text, was the most 
noted of all the Democratic politicians of the State. His influence in 
Western Kentucky was paramount. He represented, for many years, the 
Fifst Congressional District in the National Congress, and was universally 
regarded as the leader of his political associates in all their struggles for 
mastery against the dominant Whig party. He was a man of acknowledged 
patriotism and of exalted private character. He died in Paducah, Kentucky, 
December 16tb, 1859, in the 59th year of his age. 



40 Lazarus W. Powell. 

Central Committee — the Hon. James Guthrie — formally 
declined the candidateship which his party friends had 
proposed ; and it thus became necessary to put forward 
some one in his stead. A meeting of the committee was 
held, a few days subsequently, and the name of Lazarus 
W. Powell was placed at the head of the ticket. This 
result, it is said, was mainly due to the influence of Mr. 
Guthrie,* whose sound practical views of the situation, 

*The Hon. James Guthrie was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, in 1793- 
His father. Gen. Adam Guthrie, much distinguished himself in the Indian 
wars of the West, and afterwards served in the Legislature of the State 
during several sessions. His son received a good academical education at 
McAlister's Academj^, Bardstown. After leaving school, he commenced 
trading in the various products of the country, shipping the same on flat- 
boats to the New Orleans market. He studied law under the late Judge 
Rowan, of Bardstown, and practiced for several years in the courts of Nel- 
son county. In 1820 he removed to Louisville, having received from the 
Governor the appointment of Commonwealth's Attorney. He opened an 
oflBce, and being both studious and attentive to business, he became soon 
possessed of a lucrative practice. Mr. Guthrie has been the leading spirit 
in every enterprise undertaken for the commercial advancement of Louis- 
ville. It was mainly through his influence that the splendid court-house, 
which now adorns the city, was erected. The Louisville and Frankfort 
Railroad, the Jeffersonville and Indianapolis Railroad, and, finally, the 
Louisville and Nashville Railroad and its branches, were all enterprises 
which had in him their most unflagging supporter. His wise directory 
counsels were equal to the task of pushing them to completion, and of ren- 
dering them all paj'ing investments. Until latterly, Mr. Guthrie occupied 
the positions of President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Com- 
pany, President of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company, and Presi- 
dent of the University of Louisville. 

In politics, Mr. Guthrie has been a life-long Democrat, and, for the past 
twentj' years, the recognized leader of that party in Kentucky. He has 
served, time and again, in the Legislature of the State, and in 1849 was a 
delegate from the city to the Constitutional State Convention, of which body 
he was elected President. He received in 1853, from President Pierce, the 
appointment of Secretary of the Treasury, which ofiice he held during the 
term of that Chief Magistrate's administration. His management of that 
office is regarded, on all hands, as having been masterly. His name was 
presented at the Charleston Convention of 1860 for the office of President of 
the United States; but, unhappily, the wise counsels of his numerous friends 
in that body were overruled. He was a member of the Peace Convention 
that met at Washington at the beginning of the war, as he was, also, of the 
Border State Convention that met at Frankfort. In 1865 he was elected to 



His Public Life. 41 



and whose clear perception of the character and qualifi- 
cations of the gentlemen whose names had been men- 
tioned in connection with the candidateship, w^ere never 
more forcibly illustrated than on this occasion. 

The Whig party in Kentucky had nominated as its can- 
didate for Governor the Hon. John J. Crittendex,* who 
was then a member of the United States Senate from 
Kentucky, and undoubtedly one of the most deservedly 
popular men in the State. At the outset of the canvass, 
Mr. Powell was encountered by a feud in his own party. 
The Hon. Richard ]M. Johnson,! of Scott county, had an- 

the United States Senate for six years, which position be held till the 10th 
of February, 1868, when his resignation of the office was placed in the hands 
of the Governor. 

Always industrious, and always governed by prudence in the investment 
of his accumulated means, Mr. Guthrie has acquired a very large fortune, 
the greater part of which consists of real estate. For more than a year past, 
his health has been failing, and he is now closely confined to his room. 

* John J. Crittenden was born in Woodford county, Ky., in September, 
1786. He served as a Major under General Hopkins in the war of 1812, and 
was Aid-de-Camp to Gov. Shelby at the battle of the Thames. He adopted 
the profession of the Law, and was a most successful practitioner. He served 
in the Legislature of the State for several terms, and entered the National 
Congress as a Senator from Kentucky in 1817. He was again elected to the 
U. S. Senate in 1835, in which he served until his appointment to the office 
of Attorney General by President Harrison. After his resignation of this 
off:ce he returned to Kentucky and served in the State Legislature until he 
was for the third time elected to the U. S. Senate. He resigned his seat in 
this body in 1848, for the purpose of making the canvass for Governor 
referred to in the text. He was successful in this race; but he held the office 
for a brief period only, having accepted the appointment of Attorney Gen- 
eral under Mr. Fillmore's administration. In 1855 he was again sent to the 
United States Senate, and served till the end of the term in 1861, when he 
retired, the oldest member of that body. In 1860 he was elected a Repre- 
sentative in the Thirty-seventh Congress. He died at Louisville, K\'., July 
25th, 1863. The long public services of Mr. Chittenden were worthily 
ended by his almost superhuman efforts to compromise the difficulties be- 
tween the Government and the Southern States which culminated in the late 
civil war. Had his famous "Compromise Measure" been adopted by Con- 
gress, the country would have undoubtedly escaped the war and all its dis- 
astrous consequences. 

t Colonel Richard M. Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1780. He repre- 
sented his district in the Lower House of Congress from 1807 to 1813. In 



42 Lazarus W. Powell. 

nonnced himself an independent Democratic candidate 
for the office of Governor, and had already entered upon 
the canvass. Perceiving that success would be out of the 
question with two Democratic candidates in the field, Mr. 
Powell hastened to the home of his old friend, with whom 
he sought and obtained an interview, the result of which 
was entirely satisfactory to both parties. Col. Johnson 
not only declined to prosecute the race any further, but 
expressed his readiness to canvass his own district in 
behalf of the nominee of the Convention. 

The energy with which the Gubernatorial canvass of 
1848 was prosecuted in Kentucky by both Whigs and 
Democrats, was strongly indicative of the fears of the 
party in the majority, on account of the personal popu- 
larity of the opposition candidate, and of the hopes 
raised in the minds of the Democratic minority, by 
having for its standard-bearer one who was known never 
to have addressed his fellow-citizens without having 
made additions to the number of his friends. The 
beginning of the decadence of the Whig party in 
Kentucky may be referred to this memorable canvass. 
Everywhere the zeal of its advocates abated, and de- 
fections from its ranks were numerous. Mr. Powell 
threw himself into the arena of political controversy 
with an energy that was resistless. Every part of the 
State was thoroughly canvassed, and every effort of 



the latter year he raised a regiment to fight the British and Indians on the 
Lakes, and served during the campaign under Gen. Harrison. He greatly 
distinguished himself at the head of his regiment at the battle of the Thames, 
the Indian Chief, Tecumseh, as it is said, having fallen by his hand. He 
was Indian Commissioner, in 1814, under President Madison's administra- 
tion. He was returned to Congress in 1815. In 1819 he was elected to the 
United States Senate, where he remained till 1829. On the expiration of 
his term he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, where he 
remained until 1837, when he became Vice President of the United States. 
Col. Johnson was a man of strong intellect and unflinching courage. He 
was also held in high esteem on account of his kindly disposition. He died 
at Frankfort, Ky., on the 19tb of November, 1850. 



His Public Life. 43 



the opposition was encountered .and resisted. The Dem- 
ocratic political creed was defined and made known, by 
men who had been taught their principles in schools of 
statesmanship that had for their masters the greatest 
minds of the nation — the fathers of the Republic them- 
selves, and those who immediately succeeded them in 
administering the government and in framing its laws. 
The people were taught the true nature of the attempts 
that, even then, were being made to warp legislation 
from its rightful course, and make it subservient to sec- 
tional interests, and promotive of party purposes. They 
were made to feel that all stability in government is 
dependent upon the fairness of the law toward each 
and every citizen of the State; that the moment the 
law-making powers lose sight of the principle of exact 
justice to all, that moment the door is opened to dissen- 
sion, and the whole structure of government endangered. 
The Constitution — the great charter of the people's 
liberties — was the text upon which Powell and his 
associates in this canvass based both their right to a 
hearing and their appeals to the reason of those whom 
they addressed. They were strict constructionists of 
this instrument, since, alas, so shamefully abused and 
set at naught by its triumphant enemies. The canvass 
was a substantial triumph, though it ended in the defeat 
of the Constitutional party. The seed had been sown 
which was to spring forth richly laden with fruit for 
the coming harvest.* 

* In connection ■with this canvass the following amnsing anecdote is 
related: Having addressed a meeting of his fellow-citizens in one of the 
mountain counties, Governor Powell was induced to accept the invitation 
of an old gentleman, residing in the neighborhood, to pass the night at his 
house. To do honor to her guest, the mistress of the establishment, an old 
lady of primitive tastes and habits, had spread her supper-table with all the 
luxuries at her coiamand, prominent among which were a number of fruit 
and other pies. It is to be supposed that Mr. Powell was not only hungry, 
but that his digestive faculties were in excellent condition. He helped and 
rehelped himself to portions of a pie that was convenient to his hand, and 



44 Lazarus W. Powell. 



In 1852 the claims of Mr. Powell were fully recognized 
by the nominating- Convention of the Democracy of the 
State. He was again put foward by that Convention as 
its candidate for the office of Governor of the Common- 
wealth. There were peculiar circumstances connected 
with the canvass of this year that rendered it in the 
highest degree extraordinary. Mr. Powell's Whig com- 
petitor in the race was the Hon. Archibald Dixon,* a resi- 

it was not until he had nearly cleared the plate of its contents that he 
bethought himself of inquiring as to the character of the fruit of which it 
was composed. "Madam," said he, addressing his hostess, "this is certainly 
a pie of most appetising qualities. I have never tasted anything better. 
Pray, tell me of what is it composed?'' The old lady opened her eyes in 
astonishment, and exclaimed: " Up for Governor, and not knoio huckleberry 
pie!" It is scarcely necessary to state that the huckleberry, or whortle- 
berry shrub, is indigenous to hilly regions, and that Mr. Powell had never 
before seen or tasted of its fruit. 

■••■'For mauy years previous to his nomination as the candidate of the Whig 
party of the State for the office of Governor, Archibald Dixon had stood at 
the head of the bar in Southern Kentucky. He was then a most able, indus- 
trious, and cultivated lawyer. His management of all causes confided to him 
was marked by ability, but he made his greatest reputation as (y. jury lawyer. 
The fiery energy of his manner, his impassioned eloquence, the vehemence 
with which he hurled facts and arguments at the vulnerable points of his 
adversary's cause, the richness of his fancy, the beauty of his rhetoric, the 
crushing weight of his denunciatory power, and the sting of his satire, gave 
him an influence over a j-ury which few men wielded. As a criminal lawyer, 
for the defense — for he always refused to prosecute — he was for many years 
employed in nearly all the important trials in the district. He acquired a 
large fortune by his practice. As a political speaker, he was equally distin- 
guished, and several of his efforts have rarely been surpassed for power and 
eloquence, and the influence they carried with them. He still lives, and no 
man' is more generally respected in the community, or more warmly beloved 
by his intimates. Never were men more intimately associated, for years, 
than he and Powell. Their legal and political encounters never engendered 
ill feeling in either, or caused the slightest estrangement between them. In 
business matters, they indorsed for each other, reciprocally, and for none 
others outside of their own families, without the consent of the other. Each 
held from the other a power of attorney to sign both names to any desired 
document, when either happened to be absent from the county. No more 
sincere or grief-stricken mourner bowed his head in sorrow over the grave of 
the dead patriot and statesman, Lazarus W". Powell, than did his life-long 
political antagonist and his life-long personal friend. Governor Dixon. 



His Public Life. 45 



dent of the same town, his life-long personal friend, and, at 
one time, his partner in the practice of the law. For not 
one moment, whether before, during, or after the canvass, 
were the intimate personal relations between the two in- 
terrupted. They traveled together, spoke together, put 
up at the same houses, and had their meals at the same 
tables, and, except when brought into contact in the expo- 
sition of their dissimilar political dogmas, they exhibited 
toward each other, and before the public, a cordiality of 
demeanor that is as rarely witnessed between political 
antagonists as it was pleasant to contemplate. 

It was in this canvass, most likely, that Governor 
Powell learned that perfection of self-control by which 
he was afterwards so greatly distinguished in the Senate 
of the United States. Both candidates had an all-suffi- 
cient motive in their personal friendship to shun displays 
of temper. Courtesy thus became a habit of their minds, 
and its influence lived long beyond the occasion that 
called it into activity. Mr. Powell secured his election 
by a small majorit}^ while Robert N. Wickliffe, Esq., the 
candidate on the same ticket for the ofljce of Lieutenant 
Governor, was beaten several thousand votes by his oppo- 
nent, tlie Hon. John B. Thompson.* 

Lazarus W. Powell was inaugurated Governor of the 
Commonw^ealth of Kentucky on the morning of Septem- 
ber 5th, 1851. Accompanied by an escort, comprised of 
three military companies of the city, and a large number 
of prominent citizens, he left Louisville early, on the 
morning of the day named, and reached Frankfort be- 
fore ten o'clock. At the Frankfort depot he w^as met by 
a large concourse of citizens and strangers, and entering 
a carriage in waiting, with the Lieutenant Governor 

*The Hon. John B. Thompson was born in Kentucky. He represented the 
Harrodsburg District in tlie United States House of Representatives from 
1841 to 1843, and again from 1847 to 1851. In 1853 he was elected to the 
United States Senate for the long term. 



46 Lazarus W. Powell. 

elect, the Hon. John B. Thompson, he was driven to the 
State House building, when he was formally welcomed 
to the seat of his future magisterial labors in a congratu- 
latory address by the Hon. Judge Hewitt. The Governor 
elect, having been introduced to the assembled multitude 
by the retiring Governor, the Hon. John L. Helm, replied 
briefly and appropriately to the address of Judge Hewitt, 
and returned his thanks for the confidence that had been 
reposed in him by the people. He expressed his distrust 
of his ability to discharge properly the duties of the office 
to which he had been elevated ; but declared his deter- 
mination to use such powers as he possessed for the 
maintenance of good government. He would admin- 
ister the government, to the best of his ability, in accord- 
ance with the Constitution and laws, and in the interests 
of the whole people of the State. The oath of office was 
administered by Judge Shannon. 

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth met on 
the 3d day of November, 1851, and, on the following day, 
the first message of Governor Poavell was presented to, 
and read before, that body. The local issues and inter- 
ests discussed in that document need not be here referred 
to ; but the annexed extract from the message will be 
found, in view of the events that have since occurred in 
the country, deeply interesting: 

" The dark and lowering clouds that recently threat- 
ened the existence of the Union of the States of this 
glorious Confederacy are happily passing away. Ken- 
tucky is the firm and devoted friend of the Union ; and 
is for maintaining inviolate, and carrying out in strict- 
ness and in truth, in letter and in spirit, the compromise 
measures passed by the last Congress of the United 
States. She acknowledges the high and inestimable 
blessings which the Union, under the A^ational Constitu- 
tion, confers on each and all the States, and holds that 
all the provisions and guaranties of that sacred instru- 



His Public Life. 47 



ment are binding upon each and all. She invites no 
aggression, and places the cause of the Union on the 
l)inding obligations of the Federal Constitution ; and 
declares to the citizens of all the States that good faith, 
in strictly and justly carrying out the provisions of the 
Constitution, is essential to its preservation. The Gen- 
eral Government is one of limited powers, and it was 
never designed that it should interfere with the domestic 
institutions of the States, and every attempt on the part 
of the National Government to interfere with the right of 
property, or abridge the free exercise or control of prop- 
erty in the States, is a violation of the national compact, 
and an encroachment upon the sovereignty of the States; 
nor has Congress the right to interfere with the question 
of slavery in the Territories. It is a matter of domestic 
concernment, and its settlement should be left exclusively 
to the people of the Territories. 

" It is deeply to be regretted that a portion of the citi- 
zens of some of the Northern States of the Confederacy 
have resisted, and attempted to resist, the execution of 
the fugitive slave law. All forcible acts of resistance to 
the execution of the laws are treason against the United 
States, and those who advise, aid, or abet such resistance, 
are traitors to the Constitution and enemies to the be*t 
interests of the Republic. It is to be hoped that a rig- 
orous prosecution and punishment of such offenders will 
cause the Constitution and laws to be respected, and that 
their execution will no longer be resisted from any quar- 
ter. Kentucky expects from her sister States a faithful 
and impartial execution of the laws, and whilst she most 
cheerfully acknowledges and accords to the Northern 
States all the guaranties of the Constitution, she de- 
mands that none of the guaranties of that sacred instru- 
ment be withheld from the South." 

In his second message to the General Assembly of the 
Commonwealth, presented January 3d, 1854, Governor 



48 Lazarus W. Powell. 

Powell congratulates the people's representatives " on 
the general prosperity of the State, and the happy con- 
dition of their constituents." " Since the adjournment of 
the last Legislature," he continues, " the people of our 
beloved Commonwealth have enjoyed unusually good 
health ; our fields have produced abundant crops, and 
all industrial pursuits have been attended with great 
prosperity. The public credit has been preserved, and 
the public peace maintained." He calls attention to the 
wants of the " Public School System," and recommends 
the appointment of a commission to make a thorough 
" Geological Survey of the State." The annexed para- 
graphs from the message will be read with interest : 

"Since the adjournment of the last Legislature, the 
State and the nation have been called to mourn the 
death of Henry Clay, distinguished alike for his lofty 
patriotism and commanding eloquence. His fame is 
inseparably connected with the history of the Republic; 
and his eminent virtues live embalmed in the memories 
of the people of Kentucky, whom he so long and bril- 
liantly served in the national councils. We have more 
recently been called to mingle our grief with Massachu- 
setts for the loss of Daniel Webster, her most illustrious 
citizen. I herewith transmit a communication from the 
Governor of South Carolina, and the resolves of the Leg- 
islature of that State, offering fraternal condolence to the 
States of Kentucky and Massachusetts, upon the death 
of Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster. 

"South Carolina, too, has mourned the loss of her most 
distinguished statesman. Thus, within a short space of 
time, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, three of the most dis- 
tinguished orators and statesmen of the Republic, have 
gone from us forever. That trio of illustrious orators 
and statesmen, who for near half a century adorned our 
history, swayed the Cabinet, and enchained the Senate 
by their matchless eloquence, have passed from our 



His Public Life. 49 



midst; bat their names and virtues will live with un- 
diminished luster upon the pages of our country's his- 
tory. 

"Alabama, as well as South Carolina, Massachusetts, 
and Kentucky, laments the loss of a favorite son. The 
death of Wm. R. King, Vice President of the United 
States, a citizen beloved and respected for the purity of 
his character, eminent for his talents, and distinguished 
for his long and faithful services to his country in the 
many high and responsible stations to which he had been 
called by his State and nation, occurred soon after that 
of his illustrious compeers. The general sorrow pro- 
duced by this national calamity exhibits the esteem with 
which a free people always regard the faithful public 
servant and benefactor of his country. 

" I place at your disposal a medal, presented by the 
citizens of New York, through me, to the State of Ken- 
tucky, designed by them ' to commemorate the public 
services of Mr. Clay, and to transmit to distant posterity 
a perfect resemblance of his features.' The letter of the 
committee of the citizens of New York which accom- 
panied the medal, and a copy of my response accepting 
it, on behalf of the State of Kentucky, are transmitted 
herewith. I recommend that you direct that it be placed 
in the Public Library." 

During the entire term of Governor Powell's Chief 
Magistracy, his official duties were discharged with the 
most commendable fidelity and exactness. For the great- 
er part of his term of office the General Assembly of the 
State had in it a majority of Whigs ; yet at no time 
did his relations with that body assume a partisan char- 
acter. The most exacting among his political opponents, 
were obliged to acknowledge that his entire policy was 
conceived and carried out with due reference to his re- 
4 



50 Lazarus W. Powell. 



sponsibilities to the whole body of the people and the 
best interests of the State.* 

In 1857, Alfred Gumming, Esq., who had previously 
held the post of Indian Agent in the Northwest Territo- 
ries, was appointed by President Buchanan, Governor of 
the Territory of Utah. At the same time. Judge Eckels, 
of Indiana, received the appointment of Chief Justice 
of the same dependency. There being at the time strong 
apprehensions of difficulties between the government 

*Tlie following characteristic anecdote of Governor Powell is worthy 
of mention. Shortly after his inauguration, a distinguished lawyer from 
one of the upper counties of the State, and a personal friend of the Gov- 
ernor, called upon him for the purpose of presenting certain petitions for 
the pardon of a convict then in the penitentiary. The call was made at an 
early hour; and, on the door being opened, the servant in attendance asked 
for the visitor's card. "Card, the d — 1!" exclaimed the excited Attorney; 
" does the Governor expect every man that calls on him from the back- 
woods to have his pocket filled with cards! Go tell the Governor that Joe 

A , of F g, is at the door, and wishes to see him." The Governor 

had overheard the conversation, and hobbling to the door on crutches (he 
was suifering at the time from rheumatism), relieved his visitor from further 
trouble on the score of etiquette. The petitions were presented, and it ap- 
pearing evident to the Governor's mind that the young man to whom they 
referred had first been induced to drink to excess, and then seduced into 
the commission of an act of theft of which he had reaped none of the 
advantages, a messenger was dispatched to the keeper of the penitentiary, 
requesting that functionary's attendance with the prisoner at the Governor's 
mansion. When brought into his presence the Governor thus addressed the 
convict: "Young man, your friends think that you were led to the commis- 
sion of an unlawful act by an accomplished rascal in whom you too con- 
fidingly trusted, who used you as a tool for his own wicked purposes. I am 
inclined to think that this was the case; and, on this impression, I have 
pardoned you. Your character must be reclaimed where you lost it. Now 
I wish you to go at once to the man you have injured, and to tell him ex- 
actly how you came to act as you did. Get him to employ you on his 
farm; and if he can't give you wages, work for him without pay, until such 
time as he shall become convinced that you were the victim of circum- 
. stances, and not deliberately criminal. As I suppose you have no money 
to pay your way back, here are seven dollars for that object. Mind, young 
man, that I shall expect to hear a good account of you." 

It was but a short time before the Governor did hear a good account of 
the youth. The Governor's injunctions were obeyed to the letter, and the 
quondam convict is now a well-to-do and respected citizen in the very 
neighborhood where his crime was committed. 



His Public Life. 51 



and the Utah authorities, three regiments of United 
States soldiers, properly officered, were dispatched to the 
Territory, in company with whom traveled the newly- 
appointed civil officials. The winter set in before the 
expedition reached Salt Lake City, and Col. Alhert 
Sidney Johnston,* into whose hands its command had 
fallen, was compelled to go into winter quarters several 
days' march from the capital of the new Territory. In 
the meantime, the growing hostile sentiment against the 
government indulged in by the inhabitants of Utah cul- 
minated in open rebellion. This state of things was 
made known by a proclamation of the Colonel in com- 
mand of the army. 

In the spring of 1858, through the intervention of Thos. 
L. Kane, Esq., of Pennsylvania, President Buchanan was 
induced to dispatch a commission to Utah, with the hope 
of arresting the rebellion that had broken out in that 
Territory. The Commissioners named were Gov. Powell, 

*The name of Albert Sidney Johnston is too well known to the general 
reader to require more from U3 than a simple record of the leading facts 
connected with his career. He was born in Kentucky, and educated at 
West Point. When yet under twenty-five years of age, he was married to 
Miss Henrietta Preston, a sister of General Wm. Preston, of Louisville. 
Shortly after his marriage, he resigned his position in the regular army — 
he then being a Lieutenant — and removed to Texas. When the war with 
Mexico was decided on, he again entered the army as a volunteer. He wag 
soon advanced to the position of Paymaster in the army, and eventually to 
that of Colonel of the Second cavalry regiment. This was his rank at the 
time referred to in the text. His reputation as a military man stood very 
high with his superiors, and in order to prevent ill-feeling on the part of 
his elders of the same rank in the service on account of his promotion to 
the entire command of the expedition, he was commissioned by the War 
Department Brigadier General by Brevet. When the late civil war broke 
out, he resigned his place in the United States army, and promptly offered 
his services to the Confederate States Government. He soon arose to the 
command of the Southern Division of the army of the new government, 
and fell at Shiloh, at the moment, as has been generally conceded, when 
that great disaster to the cause of the South alone prevented the entire 
destruction of General Grant's army. Of all those who lost their lives in 
the late conflict, no name stands higher for courage, ability, and patriotism, 
than does that of Albert Sidney Johnston. 



52 Lazarus W. Powell. 

of Kentucky, and Maj. Ben. McCulloch,* of Texas. On 
the arrival of these gentlemen at the camp of the mili- 
tary expedition, they immediately issued the proclama- 
tion of the President, offering pardon to all Mormons 
who should submit to the Federal authority. This oiler 
was accepted by the heads of the Mormon Church, and 
all trouble was arrested. 

Governor Powell was wont to speak enthusiastically 
of his trip across the plains to Utah, and of the richness 
and variety of scenery presented to his eyes in that far- 
off Territory. He had long been a sufferer from rheuma- 
tism, and he always attributed his complete recovery to 
the beneficial effects of the climate of Utah upon his 
health. The wild, free life of the plains suited him ; and, 
long before he had reached the end of his journey, he 
felt, as he expressed it, as if he had gotten a new lease 
of life. He often spoke of the wonderful beauty and 
sublimity of the country surrounding Salt Lake City — of 
its towering mountains and rich valleys — of the immense 

* Since the war for the independence of Texas, and up to the battle of 
Pea Ridge, in Northern Arkansas, in 1862, few names in the annals of the 
tinaes have been more familiar to the ears of Southerners than that of the 
celebrated Texan Ranger, Maj. Ben. McColloch. He proved himself, in the 
three wars in which he was engaged, not only the brave soldier, but the 
prudent agent, also, of his superiors, whenever his services were demanded 
for the carrying out their strategic designs. It was to his daring address 
while attached in the capacity of scout to the army of iuvasion in Mexico 
that was principally due .the salvation of General Taylor's army, a few 
days previous to the battle of Buena Vista. With two others, he penetrated 
the enemy's camp, and ascertained that he was not only in overwhelming 
force, but that vSanta Anna — who had, up to that time, been supposed to be 
an exile from his country — was in command of the Mexican forces, and was 
preparing a formidable trap for his too confiding adversary. The informa- 
tion gained by McCulloch enabled General Taylor to retrace his steps from 
Agua Nueva to Buena Vista, where the fiercest battle of the war was fought 
and won by the American General a few days afterwards. McCulloch 
volunteered in the Confederate States army in the late civil war, in which 
he commanded a regiment of Texan Rangers. He fell on the bloody field of 
Pea Ridge in the second year of the war, having reached the rank of Briga- 
dier General. 



His Public Life. 53 



saline deposits on the shores of the Lake, and of the 
delight he experienced in bathing in waters, the buoy- 
ancy of which enabled him to float upon their surface 
without exertion, as on a bed of down. His intercourse 
with Brigham Young and the saints of Salt Lake was 
agreeable and instructive. He had no faith in the sin- 
cerity of the Mormon apostles ; but he always gave to 
the masses under them credit for integrity. He described 
Young as a shrewd, plausible, and well-informed man, 
of indomitable energy and of iron will, but of vast am- 
bition, who dreamed of building up a great nation wedded 
to the faith of which he had been for years the apostle, 
independent of the United States Government, and rival- 
ing it in power; and who would have scornfully refused 
the demands of the government, had he believed he could 
have successfully resisted, either by force of arms or by 
cunning. 

At the session of the General Assembly which took 
place in 1859, Governor Powell was elected to the Sen- 
ate of the United States for the full term of six years. 
Without extending this sketch to too great length, we 
find it impracticable to give the reader more than a gen- 
eral outline of Governor Powell's course while a member 
of the Senate. His speeches to that body would of them- 
selves fill a large volume, and these are all to be found 
in the published reports of the congressional proceedings 
of the period. He entered the Senate at a time of great 
political excitement. A party had arisen in the country, 
and \vas daily growing stronger, which had for its main 
idea the extinction of slavery as a national institution, or 
as one recognized in the fundamental law of the land. 
By the governments of several of the A^orthern States the 
fugitive slave law liad been openly proclaimed a measure 
which required from them no obedience. The Southern 
States, disgusted at what they conceived to be want of 
faith on the part of their A^orthern associates, and seeing, 



54 Lazarus W. Powell. 

from the complexion of the legislation of the country, 
that they would soon be powerless to protect their con- 
stitutional rights against the requirements of a constantly 
increasing majority in the National Legislature, already 
were contemplating secession. In both Houses of Con- 
gress fanaticism ruled one part of the people's repre- 
sentatives, and, with but few exceptions, passion the 
remainder. With these mutually opposing forces ran- 
cor begot rancor, and denunciation begot denunciation ; 
until, by both, reason was thrown to the winds, and the 
seeds of suspicion and hatred were sown broadcast over 
the whole land, to spring up, after a few short months, 
into cohorts of armed men, striving for the mastery on a 
thousand battle-fields. 

The conservative ideas of the fathers of the Republic, 
in accordance with which they were alone enabled to 
construct a system of government in which opposing in- 
terests should meet and become reconciled, were lost sight 
of in the reign of fanaticism and passion that preceded 
the late war ; and influential men of both sections, filled 
with ambition and the desire to secure personal advan- 
tages, shut their eyes to the signs of the times, which por- 
tended trouble, as they did to the teachings of history and 
the counsels of the wisest among the nation's departed 
statesmen. The people of the country, outside of the 
small bands of fanatics in either section, and the great 
army of corrupt politicians scattered all over the country, 
had no notion whatever of the dangers that were threat- 
ening the very existence of the nation. They had been 
educated, however, by the real instigators of the troubles 
to the point of adherence to certain political dogmas, in 
reference to the institution of slavery particularly, which 
were enunciated by the leaders in whom they had placed 
unreserved, but mistaken, confidence ; and the result en- 
sued, which had been contemplated fi'om the first by the 



His Public Life. 55 



lanatics and political tricksters — civil war between the 
sections North and South. 

Few of our public men possessed a clearer understand- 
ing of the causes that led to the late conflict than Gov. 
Powell. In a speech on the " Bill giving freedom to the 
families of negro soldiers," delivered in the Senate on the 
9th .January, 1863, Mr. Powell remarked : 

" Some call this a war for the negro; but, in my opinion, 
those who look upon African slavery as the cause of the 
war are greatly mistaken. This war was not designed by 
the large slaveholders of the South ; they did not want 
the war. It is not a war of the negro ; it is not a war of 
tarifls ; it is not a war of any particular line of policy ; 
but it is a war of politicians who were faithless to their 
constitutional obligations, and there the responsibility will 
be placed by the philosophical historian in all after time. 
If I were to describe it in a sentence, I should say that it 
was a war of the politicians, both North and South — a 
war of ambitious fanatical zealots, and they existed North 
as well as South. I speak of a class of politicians who 
are faithless to the law, faithless to their oaths of office, 
and who claim to be governed by a law higher than and 
above the Constitution. This war was not brought about 
by a majority of the American people in either section. 
There were higher-law fanatical Abolitionists in the 
North, who disregarded their constitutional obligations, 
which wise, honest, and just men were bound by ; and 
there was a class called "Fire-eaters," in the South, who 
were fanatics too. Both parties were ready to take up 
any bone about which they could make the fiercest quar- 
rel. They had the tariff bone at one time, and they came 
near wrecking the Union on that. If the bone of conten- 
tion had been the spinning-jennies of New England, and 
they had thought that issue would have more aggravated 
the people than any other, they would have seized on that 
bone. The slavery question was caught hold of by these 



56 Lazarus W. Powell. 

— ^i . 

designing men as the one best calculated to excite the 
people. What the fanatics of the North said, the fire- 
eaters of the South re-echoed to their people, and the 
hard things said by themselves were taken up at the North 
for a like purpose." 

It is well known that Governor Powell was sincerely 
and consistently opposed to the war of coercion that was 
inaugurated by Mr. Lincoln's administration in 1860, 
against the seceded Commonwealths of the South. 
With many of the wisest men of the country, he belived 
that w^ar was " eternal separation." He loved the Union 
too well to endanger it by urging the government to 
go to war for its own nominal presei'vation. A Union 
" pinned together by bayonets," he regarded as unsuited 
to the genius of our institutions ; and he therefore looked 
upon the action of the coercionists as subversive of every 
principle that underlays our structure of government. 
He revered the Conetitution, and believed that, under 
its aegis, the people had ample protection against persist- 
ent wrong. He implored his Southern co-members in 
Congress to remain in their places and fight the battle 
of the Constitution on that civic field. Had they listened 
to his voice, war would have been impossible. He was 
equally earnest in his efi"orts to lull the excited pas- 
sions of the majority, both before and after the Repre- 
sentatives of the seceded States had vacated their posts, 
and even after blood had floured in streams on the first 
battle-fields of the new revolution. He advocated with 
zeal and energy every measure of compromise that was 
introduced in Congress, and only ceased to raise his 
voice in deprecation and warning, when, to have done 
so, would have but added to the exasperation of a con- 
clave that appeared to be bent on revolutionizing the 
whole structure of government. 

He heartily approved of the neutral position taken by 
his native State at the beginning of the war, though he 



His Public Life. 57 



evidently feared that that position could not be, as it was 
not, maintained. In the session of 18G0, when interro- 
gated by the Senator from New Jersey (Mr, Ten Eyck) : 
" How can the State of Kentucky, consistently with her 
duty to the Constitution, refuse to obey the President's 
call for troops?" he thus made answer : 

" I will state to the Senator and to the country the 
view that Kentucky took of that question, as far as 
I am advised. Kentucky believed that this call for 
seventy-five thousand men was not necessary for the 
defense of the capital or of the public property. She 
believed that the calling forth of such an immense 
armament was for the purpose of making a war of 
subjugation on the Southern States, and upon that 
ground she refused to furnish the regiments called for. 
The Senator seems to be a little olfended at the neu- 
trality of Kentucky. Sir, Kentucky has assumed a 
position of neutrality, and I only hope that she may 
be able to maintain it. She has assumed that position 
because there is no impulse of her patriotic heart that 
desires her to imbrue her hands in a brother's blood, 
whether he be from the North or the South. Kentucky 
looks upon this war as wicked, unrighteous, and unnec- 
essary. Kentucky believes that this war, if carried out, 
can result in nothing else than a final disruption of this 
confederacy. She hopes, she wishes, she prays that this 
Union may be maintained. She believes that cannot 
be done by force of arms ; that it must be done by com- 
promise and conciliation, if it can be done at all ; and 
hence, being devoted truly to the Union, she desires to 
stay this war, and desires measures of peace to be pre- 
sented for the adjustment of our difficulties. 

" That is the neutrality of Kentucky, and that I under- 
stand to be the reason why she assumes to be neutral. 
It is the first time in the history of that proud Common- 
wealth that she ever failed to respond to the call upon 



58 Lazarus W. Powell. 

the country for volunteers ; she never was called upon 
to fight a public and foreign enemy that her true and 
gallant sons did not rush to the standard of the country 
in numbers so great that many had to be turned back. 
In other wars, in the war of 1812, and the war with 
Mexico, twenty times more men than could be taken 
were presented ; and she would be ready to do it again, 
if it were a war against a foreign enemy ; but she has 
no desire to shed the blood of a brother, whether of the 
North or South. I think her position is one that should 
be admired and esteemed by all patriotic men, by all 
Christian men, by all men who love their country and 
love the Union. 

" She stands in an attitude, if possible, of a peace- 
maker, between the belligerents North and South, and 
I hope she may be permitted to maintain that attitude. 
It was one not taken out of any JwstUity to the Government ; 
she took it because she believed it was the only means 
possible by which those difficulties could be averted, 
our country saved, the Union restored, and our people 
once more made prosperous, contented, and happy. 

" I am aware that the position of my State is not pala- 
table to gentlemen who rush fiercely on to this war. I 
am aware also that persons in the extreme South, per- 
haps, are not satisfied with the condition of Kentucky. 
They think we ought to unsheath our sword at once, 
and make common quarrel with them. We have chosen 
to act differently, and we will, with the blessing of God, 
maintain our position of neutrality. This immense arma- 
ment called out by the President looked to us as if this 
were to be a war of subjugation, and not one in defense 
of the public property. For that, in addition to the other 
reasons I have stated, we wished to present, if possible, 
a barrier between the fierce confticting elements North 
and South, and restore peace to this country." 

In July, 1861, during the extraordinary session of Con- 
gress, convened by Mr. Lincoln, a joint resolution was 



His Public Life. 59 



introduced which was intended to legalize certain un- 
lawfuJ acts of the President — among others, his calling 
for troops, blockading the Southern ports, and authoriz- 
ing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Governor 
Powell took part in the discussion which ensued, and, on 
the 11th of July, he made a speech, from which we extract 
what follows : 

" Mr. President, we have fallen upon strange times. 
The Congress of the nation has been assembled in extra- 
ordinary session for the purpose of considering matters 
of the gravest importance. We are in the midst of 
a revolution which has dismembered the Confederacy. 
We are now called upon to vote for a resolution ap- 
proving the acts of the President of the United States 
that are specifically set forth in the resolution. Sir, I 
consider that the President, in many of these enumerated 
acts, has violated the Constitution of the land. The 
powers and duties of the President are prescribed in 
that instrument. That distinguished gentleman has no 
more power to infract the Constitution or the laws than 
the humblest citizen of the land. He has sworn to be 
true and faithful to the Constitution. Each Senator and 
each official of this government, upon entering upon the 
discharge of the functions of his office, takes an oath 
to support the Constitution ; and 1 should consider that I 
was recreant to my duty as a Senator, if I did not oppose 
the act of every officer of the government who, as I 
conceived, had violated the Constitution of the country. 

"I readily admit, that if the call for seventy-five thou- 
sand men was made solely for the purpose of protecting 
this capital, and for the purpose designated in this resolu- 
tion, it was constitutional and valid. If, however, the 
purpose of the call for seventy-five thousand men was 
for the purpose of making war on the sovereign States 
of this Union, I hold the act to be invalid, because I hold 
that we have no power to make war upon a State of this 



60 Lazarus W. Powell. 

Union. There is no such warrant in the Constitution. 
Our illustrious fathers, when framing that instrument, 
declined to give any such power. It was expressly pro- 
posed to clothe the government with power to coerce a 
State ; and, after a most elaborate debate, in which such 
men as Madison, Hamilton, Ellsworth, and others par- 
ticipated, it was unanimously rejected. However, sir, so 
far as that is concej-ned, I shall say no more. The con- 
stitutionality of the act calling out the seventy-five thou- 
sand men, in my judgment, depends altogether on the 
uses the President intended to make of the army which 
he organized. I confess that the creation of such a vast 
army looked to me very much like desiring a war of sub- 
jugation. 

" Is there a Senator here who believes that the Presi- 
dent of the United States has warrant of the law and the 
Constitution for suspending this act of habeas corpus ^ If 
there is, he holds the Constitution in a very different light 
than did the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge 
Story in his Commentaries, and all other commentators 
on the Constitution. I have, to some extent, examined 
the decisions, and I find they all hold the very same doc- 
trine. 

" But some gentleman, as did the Senator from Massa- 
chusetts [Mi-. Wilson] the other day, seem to think there 
was some necessity for it. Where ? There could be no 
necessity that would authorize this violation of the Con- 
stitution. Several persons, I have heard, have been im- 
prisoned under it — among them, a man by the name of 
Merryman, in the city of Baltimore, and the police com- 
missioners of that city, who are now at Fort McHenry, 
and denied the privilege of this writ. I think there 
could have been no necessity for it, because this writ, in 
my judgment, should never be suspended, not even in the 
cases prescribed in the Constitution, unless the judges of 
the country are considered too corrupt to administer the 



His Public Life. 61 



law. When the judges become too cori'upt, in the opin- 
ion of the legislative department, to administer the law, 
then I think that Congress might lawfully and properly 
exercise the power to suspend this writ in the instances 
prescribed in the Constitution, but i|ot until then. 

"The Chief Justice of the United States issued his writ 
to have Mr. jNIerryman brought before him. It was re- 
fused. He then, 1 believe, .issued an attachment for con- 
tempt against the commanding officer at Fort McHeni'y, 
CTcneral Cadw^alader, and the officer of the court was not 
permitted to execute that last process. What harm could 
there have been in having this man, John Merryman, 
brought before the Chief Justice of the United States, if 
he were lawfully imprisoned? It wouhl have been the 
duty of the Chief Justice to investigate the case, and if 
he found that Merryman was improperly and unlawfully 
deprived of his liberty, to discharge him. If he had been 
of the opinion that he was guilty, and pj-operly impris- 
oned, and the case was not a bailable one, he would 
have to remand him to the prison ; or if, in his judgment, 
it were a bailable case, and the man probably guilty, 
then to discharge him on bail. What harm, if the man 
were really guilty, would there have been in bringino- 
him before the Chief Justice, and allowing the judgment 
to be rendei-ed? Why, sir, if you allow the Executive, 
or any other officer, to suspend this great writ, who is it 
that is secure in his person or his liberty? If the Presi- 
dent can extend this power to all subalterns in the army, 
notwithstanding the laws and the Constitution, which 
allow freedom of speech, and to a Senator the pi-ivilege 
to utter his sentiments here without being questioned, 
you might be arrested and put into piison before you 
reached your lodgings. I tell you. Senators, vou shouhl 
pause before you approve the acts of your President, 
thus ruthlessly violating the Constitution of your country 
and suspending its laws. 



62 Lazarus W. Powell. 

"It is our duty, then, so far from approving what the 
President has done by our votes, to give that distinguished 
magistrate a stern rebuke for the power that he has as- 
sumed ; for the violence he has done to the Constitution 
of his country. We should tell him that we consider that 
our liberties are held by virtue of the supremacy of the 
laws, and in no other way ; and that we will allow no 
magistr.ate, with impunity, to violate the Constitution and 
the laws of the land without giving him a stern rebuke. 

" I believe it was the custom in the free commonwealth 
of Athens to decree all her magistrates who did not admin- 
ister her government, or execute the functions of the gov- 
ernment according to law, to be tyrants; and it was well 
done, for that people knew that liberty dwelt only under 
the shelter of the supremacy of law. One of the most 
alarming symptoms, to my mind, of these troubled times, 
is, that although such bold, palpable, and unmistakable 
violations of the Constitution of the country have been 
committed, with the Legislatures of sixteen or seventeen 
States of this Union in session, I have not seen a single 
legislative resolve censuring the Chief Magistrate for his 
conduct. It appears as if the spirit of liberty that ani- 
mated our ancient sires had departed, when we behold 
men ready to see the Constitution of their country over- 
turned, and throw up their hats and shout praises to him 
M'ho does the deed. To my mind it is a most fearful 
indication of the degeneracy of the times in which we 
are." 

The unlawful arrests, which were so frequent during 
the continuance of the late civil war, were among the 
most trying incidents of that trying period. Many of Gov. 
Powell's most masterly efforts in the Senate were made 
with the view to bring about a change in the policy of the 
Administration in respect to these arrests. On the 9th of 
January, 1862, he spoke thus on the Resolution of Inquiry, 
introduced by Mr. Saulsbury, in regard to the arrest and 
detention of certain citizens of Delaware : 



His Public Life. 63 



" I hold that there is no authority vested by the Consti- 
tution of the United States in the President, or any of his 
Cabinet Ministers, to make these arrests. The Constitu- 
tion defines what are the duties of the various departments 
of this Government. The duties of the Executive, and of 
the Legislative and Judicial powers, are each plainly 
marked out in the instrument. With each the powers are 
separate and distinct, and when either goes beyond the 
powers prescribed in the Constitution, that department 
usurps an authority not given to it, and deserves, and 
should receive, the censure of every man that is loyal to 
the Constitution. I ask Senators to point me to the clause 
in the Constitution that authorizes the President and his 
Cabinet Ministers to make these arrests. ***** 
The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and making 
arrests are separate and distinct acts. One may be done 
Avithout affecting the other. Arrests can only be made in 
the mode pointed out in the Constitution. It is plain and 
explicit on that subject. No citizen can be properly ar- 
rested and held except upon probable cause. He is enti- 
tled to a speedy trial in the district where the offense was 
committed ; and the Constitution says that no citizen shall 
be deprived of his life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law. If you arrest a citizen without charge, 
lock him up in one of your prisons for seventeen months, 
and then discharge him without trial, as has been done in 
many instances since this civil war commenced, do } ou 
not deprive him of his liberty without process of law, and 
violate the plain provisions of the Constitution p * * * 

" One of the wisest men of Greece once said that that 
was the best government where an insult offered to the 
meanest and poorest citizen was an insult to the State. 
It was a wise maxim. But, sir, these insults and injuries 
are offered not only to the poor and helpless, but they 
have been offered to some of the most respectable and 
loyal citizens of the United States — men who are the 



64 Lazarus W. Powell. 

peers of the President and Cabinet, and the peers of Sen- 
ators. Such men have for months been confined in prison, 
where they have been cruelly languishing, for no assigned 
cause, with no charges made against them. In many 
cases their prison doors have been opened at length, and 
they have been discharged without trial. Senators call 
this mercy ! Mercy ! to drag a man from his family with- 
out charge, in violation of the Constitution ; to put him in 
one of your Bastiles, and to keep him there on bread and 
■water, and on a pallet of straw, for months, and then to 
turn him out without giving him a trial, when he has all 
the time protested his innocence and demanded a trial ! 
Sir, if that is mercy, I want none of it! 

" I believe, from first to last, that five thousand of my 
constituents have been imprisoned — not all of them with- 
out the State — some in military camps within the State — 
many of them only for a short time. The wives, the chil- 
dren, the fathers and mothers of them, have written to me 
on the subject; many of the persons imprisoned have 
written to me ; and in every instance they have stated that 
they did not know the cause of their arrest. They were, 
consequently, I suppose, arrested on suspicion, for the 
larger portion of them have been released without trial. 
* * * I can tell you. Senators, that the people of this 
country have determined that these arrests shall cease. 
They have decreed it at the ballot-box, and the voice of 
the people, like leaping thunder, has demanded that the 
Constitution shall be respected and maintained." 

In a speech delivered in the Senate of the United 
States, on the i9th of January, 1863, on a bill of the 
House of Representatives concerning " State piisoners 
and the suspension of the writ of habeas coi-pus.''^ Mr. 
Powell being interrupted by Senator Wright, with the 
declaration : " War is declared ; it is the law of the 
land ; and it is the duty of all loyal men to sustain the 
Government and carry on the war by taxes, by money, 
and in every other way" — thus answered : 



His Public Life. 65 



"Mr. President, I by no mean.s concur with the Sena- 
tor. That would depend altogether on the kind of war. 
If I thought the war was one to overthrow the Constitu- 
tion of my country and the liberties of the people, I 
would neither give men nor money to carry it on. I 
believe the war in which we are engaged is one of that 
character. consequently, i have neither given 3ien nor 
money to carry it on, and so help jme god i never will. 
I believed from the beginning that this war was brought 
on for the purpose of overthrowing the institutions of 
the Southern States, to get rid of the institution of Afri- 
can slavery, and, if yo« could not do it by w^ar, then to 
dissolve the Union. That has been my opinion fi-om the 
beginning, and when there was a resolution offered here 
by Mr. Johnson, similar to the one oflered by Mr. Crit- 
tenden, I voted against it ; and I said in my place that 
I did not believe that it contained the truth. The facts 
developed from that day to this have confirmed me, and 
shown me that I was right in the opinion I then formed. 
I love the Constitution of my country. I am devoted to 
the Union of the States. I believed that this war would 
forever tear the Union asunder, and bring on the people 
untold evils, onerous taxes, heavy debt, and do no good. 
I believed we could never hold the people together by 
arms. Hence, I opposed the war, and believing, as I did, 
and do, I have not supported, and will not support, such 

" The Senator (Wright, of Indiana) advocates the use 
of the fagot and the* sword, death and destruction, in 
putting down the rebellion, and, at the same time, he 
throws into his speech the most Christian sentiments 
about Abraham and Lot parting in peace. It seems to 
me that this is strikingly, inconsistent. I hope that my 
friend may be animated by those Christian feelings, and 
that he will dismiss that ferocious spirit in which he talks 
5 



66 Lazarus W. Powell. 

about the use of the fagot and the fire and the sword. Sir, 
I think it is unbecoming a Christian age and a Christian 
country. It is not in accordance with the sublime teach- 
ings of Christianity. I know it is unbecoming the Chris- 
tian character of the honorable Senator. I trust he used 
those expressions in hot haste, and that he has already 
repented of them. Make war against those who have 
arms in their hands ; but for God's sake do not go with 
fire and fagot and sword, and destroy all that they have, 
and leave the poor women and children to starve. Do 
not do this, sir, unless you would be a by-word and a 
reproach to all the nations of the earth." 

The discussion of the bill referred to was carried to 
great length. On the 23d of February, Mr. Wilson, of 
Massachusetts, delivered a speech in the Senate, in which 
he made a fierce attack upon the position of the majority 
in Kentucky, and upon their representative in the Senate. 
Governor Powell replied to the remarks of his Massachu- 
setts associate on the same day, and from his speech on 
the occasion we quote a few passages: 

" 1 can tell the Senator that the Democracy of Ken- 
tucky, whom he so fiercely denounces, will not be offend- 
ed by his assault upon them. Had the Senator praised 
them, I have no doubt that each and every one of them 
would have instituted a self-inquiry, and exclaimed with 
the Psalmist, " Lord, Lord, what evil hath thy servant 
done, that wicked men do praise him?" Nothing that 
can fall from the Senator's lips can damage them, save 
and except his praise. But, sir, the Senator calls them 
traitors ! Allow me to say that there is not a man among 
them who could not most favorably contrast his loyalty 
with that of the Senator from Massachusetts. They have 
been true, loyal men to the Constitution of the country 
and to the Union of their fathers, while the Senator and 
his Abolition associates have been constantly assailing 
both. The Senator arraigns the Senators who left here, 



His Public Life. 67 



and the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan, and he says they 
hatched treason. Where was the Senator's loyalty then, 
that he did not rise here to teach those men a lesson by 
denouncing what he calls their treason ? The Senator, 
while in their presence, was as quiet as a sucking dove. 
He waits till they have been a long time absent, and are 
a great way ofi', and then he makes his assault. He says 
the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan stole everything they could 
get. Yes, sir, he charged that Cabinet with plunder and 
theft. Why did not the Senator make the chai'ge when 
they were here to meet it? I am not here to defend the 
Senators who have left their seats. I thought they did 
wrong when they left. But I will tell the Senator one 
thing: where the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan stole one 
cent, those in power under this administration have 
stolen thousands upon thousands of dollars. If you look 
into the reports made by your own party friends on our 
tables, I will aver that, since the foundation of the world, 
there never was such robbery as those reports exhibit. 
I suppose the Senator is more anxious for the ascendency 
of the rogues among his own partisans, than for the 
purity, honesty, and perpetuity of the constitutional gov- 
ernment of our fathers ; otherwise we should have heard 
him denouncing his own party friends, who have plun- 
dered the government of millions of money." 

We come now to an interesting event in the Senatorial 
career of Governor Powell. In February, 1862, one of 
the members from Minnesota presented to the Senate the 
famous resolution of expulsion against the Kentucky 
Senator. This resolution, with its accompanying pre- 
amble, had been drawn up by Mr. Powell's own col- 
league, the Hon. Garrett Davis.* In the latter were 

*The Hon. Garrett Davis was born in Mount Sterling. Kentucky, Sep- 
tember lOtb, 1801. He studied law and came to the bar in 1823. He was 
elected to the Legislature in 1833, and was twice re-elected. He was a 
member of the last Constitutional Convention of Kentucky, and a Repre- 



68 Lazarus W. Powell. 

embodied certain specific charges touching the loyalty of 
his colleague, which were deemed of sufficient impor- 
tance to be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
for investigation. Although the committee reported ad- 
versely to the resolution, Mr. Davis made a lengthy 
argument before the Senate in favor of its adoption. 
Governor Powell defended himself on the floor of the 
Senate in a masterly speech, delivered on the 14th of 
March, 1862. We append a few extracts from this 
speech, in order that the reader may be able to judge 
for himself of the means used to effect the Senator's 
expulsion, and of the character of the defense made : 

" My colleague," said Mr. Powell, " was kind enough 
in the very lengthy, and, I must say, somewhat bitter 
speech, that he delivered, to speak kindly of me person- 
ally. For that I thank him. I shall not, I trust, be gov- 
erned by that impetuosity of temper, if not bitterness 
of feeling, that characterized my colleague. He stated 
to the Senate that this was a very unpleasant duty he 
had to perform. I hope that it was unpleasant, but, not- 
withstanding my colleague's disclaimer, his bearing, his 
manner, his temper, indicated to my mind that he was 
engaged in what to him was a work of love. 

sentative in Congress from his district from 1839 to 1847. In 1861 he was 
elected to the United States Senate, and re-elected in 18(57. He was a dis 
guished leader of the American or Know Nothing party, on the breaking up 
of the Whig organization in 1854. He was strongly opposed to the secession 
movement in 1860, and, up to third year of the war, was regarded as the 
most prominent of the Kentucky politicians who were advocates of the war 
policy of the administration. In 1863, becoming convinced that the war 
was not being prosecuted in the interests of peace, and for the object of 
"restoring the Union with the rights of the States preserved,'" Mr. Davis 
ceased to act with the Republican party. From that time to the present, he 
has faithfully served his State in the United States Senate, not only with 
commendable zeal, but with distinguished ability. With his knowledge of 
the designs of the Republican party, came to him the sense of the injury he 
had done his colleague. He promptly retracted ihe charges that had been 
made against Gov. Powell in the preamble referred to above, and the two 
remained warm personal friends to the end of the latter's life. 



His Public Life. 69 



"My colleague is the author of the resolution. It is 
before me now in his own handwriting. It was pre- 
sented, however, by another Senator. I have no com- 
plaint against the honorable Senator who presented it, 
because my colleague is presumed to know all the facts 
connected with this matter better than any other Senator, 
or at least the action of the State of Kentucky; and, as 
he makes the charges, I do not attach the least blame to 
any Senator for presenting the resolution. I think, how- 
ever, my colleage acted a little ungenerously in this, that 
while he was laboriously engaged in drawing up his bill 
of indictment, he did not notify me of the fact. The first 
intimation I had of it was when the resolution was pre- 
sented by the honorable Senator from Minnesota; and, 
I must confess, that when I looked at it at the Clerk's 
desk, and found it to be in my colleague's handwriting, 
I was somewhat amazed. I thought courtesy, at least, to 
a colleague, would have induced the Senator to notify 
me of what he proposed to do. He did not do it. The 
case went to the Committee on the Judiciary ; and, as 
the honorable Senator from Illinois, the chairman of that 
committee, announced, I did promptly, and I trust deli- 
cately, ask the committee to give it the earliest possible 
attention. Before that committee, however, had time to 
conclude their investigation, such was the hot haste and 
zeal of my colleague, that he publicly, in the Senate 
Chamber, demanded of the committee to know why they 
had not reported, or at least urged them to report as 
speedily as possible. They did report that the resolution 
ought not to pass ; and the very day that they made the 
report, my colleague notified the Senate that he would 
move on the next day to take it up. It did strike me that 
if my colleage had been governed by that courtesy which 
I am sure I would have extended to him, he would have* 
come to me and consulted with me as to whether it would 



70 Lazarus W. Powell. 

be convenient for me to have it taken up the next day or 
not; but he said not a word to me about it. * * * * 

" My colleague stated to the Senate that the neutrality 
which I and others advocated was not the neutrality of 
the Union men of Kentucky. I will show hereafter from 
the resolutions of their mass meetings, their speeches, 
and from their votes in the Legislature, that they were 
for the very neutrality I was for. My colleague said that 
they had assumed neutrality to divert the attention of the 
people — that is, that they were not sincere in it, if I un- 
derstood him. So far as that neutrality is concerned, I 
shall show presently by incontestable records that it was 
inaugurated by the Union party of Kentucky. After it 
was inaugurated, I and many others who had no hand in 
inaugurating it, assumed it for the purpose of keeping 
peace within the borders of Kentucky. If my colleague 
was correct in the announcement he made, that that 
policy was adopted with a view to divert the attention 
of the people, I assure him that I had no hand in that. 
Whether those who first proclaimed it and who supported 
it during two or three canvasses in Kentucky were in 
earnest about it, I do not mean to say. I know that 
when I co-operated with them for neutrality I was hon- 
est, I was in earnest, I meant it; and I was really as- 
tounded when my colleague proclaimed to the country, 
from his place in the American Senate, that they assumed 
that position for the purpose of diverting the public at- 
tention ; in other words, in order to cheat the people. 

"My colleague announced, too, that if I had gone with 
the Union party, they would have received me with open 
arms. lie was kind enough to tell the Senate that I had 
very great personal popularity in Kentucky, and to say 
that he had never heard a person speak otherwise than 
kindly of me personally. For that I thank him. I fear 
that he does me over-justice in that. But I will say to 
my colleague, that if I have the great popularity of which 



His Public Life. 71 



he spoke, I obtained it by acting with strict integrity in 
all my transactions, both public and private. As a poli- 
tician, I never avowed before the people anything that I 
did not honestly believe. I never assumed a political 
tenet for the purpose of cheating and deceiving the peo- 
ple in any way whatever, and 1 trust and believe that 
the honest, the noble, the chivalrous people of Kentucky, 
if they esteem me at all, do so because of my direction, 
my sincerity, my truth, my devotion to their interests and 
to the interests of my country. They are a brave, honest, 
and generous people, and if they know that one of their 
public servants errs, but errs honestly, they are ready to 
cover his defects with the broad mantle of their charity." 

It will be seen that the gravamen of the indictment 
made against Governor Powell was his adherence to 
the neutrality policy which had been inaugurated by the 
citizens of the State when the war broke out. He 
proved incontestibly that Mr. Davis himself, and numer- 
ous other well known Union men of the State, had given 
their past support to this same policy. He was accused 
of inviting the Confederates into the State, of associating 
with rebels, and of other like offenses. The resolution 
failed by so decided a majority that no further attempt 
was made toward his expulsion. 

On the 5th day of December, 1862, Mr. Stevens (of 
Pennsylvania) introduced into the House of Representa- 
tives of the United States a bill, entitled " A bill to 
indemnify the President and other persons for suspend- 
ing the writ of habeas corpus, and acts done in pursuance 
thereof." Tiie bill was passed. On the 22d of the same 
month, the Hon. George H. Pendleton (of Ohio) pre- 
sented a lengthy protest against the passage of the bill, 
w^hich was signed by thirty-six members of the House. 
The bill came up for discussion in the Senate on the 28th 
of January, 18G3, when Governor Powell thus spoke 
against its passage : 



72 Lazarus W, Powell. 

" The scope and object of this bill is to prevent those 
who have been injured in their persons and their property 
from having redress in the courts. Alfred the Great has 
received more approval and won more distinction for 
having brought justice to the doors of every Englishman 
than for having fought a hundred pitched battles. But 
here, sir, we find the Senate of the United States en- 
gaged in offering impediments to the cause of justice, 
by closing the ordinary courts against all causes coming 
from those who have been injured by the minions of 
power. You would transfer all such causes to the 
Federal courts. I do not believe that, under the Consti- 
tution, you can confer on the Federal courts any such 
jurisdiction as is contemplated by this bill. Senators, 
allow me to tell you that the public wilf visit this act, 
if it should pass, with the harshest condemnation. A 
free, virtuous, and upright people cannot but do so. 
To limit the bringing of these actions to two years, and 
to drive out of the State courts the hundreds, and perhaps 
thousands, of poor men who are hardly able to fee a 
lawyer in the counties where they have been wronged, 
and to compel them to go to the United States Courts, 
is an utter denial of justice in many cases." 

Duiing the discussion, the positions taken by the Sen- 
ator from Kentucky were attacked by Senator DooLrrTLE 
(of Wisconsin) who said : " I have probably heard the Sen- 
ator make a hundred speeches on this floor, and the whole 
burden of them for the last two years has been denuncia- 
tion of the Administration ; but I have never heard him 
utter one word in condemnation of the men — his late as- 
sociates — who are dripping all over with the blood of our 
fellow-citizens." To this, Gov. Powell made answer : 

" Mr. President, the Senator from Wisconsin seems to 
be terribly shocked that I should in my place utter a word 
of denunciation of those who have, in my opinion, at- 
tempted to overthrow the Constitution of my country; 



His Public Life. 73 



and he enters the usual complaint against me, that I have 
not denounced the rebels. Allow me to tell that vSenator 
that I expressly disapproved, on this floor, of what those 
rebels had done, and that when they were present. I said 
in my place that I thought they did wrong. It is not my 
habit to denounce men that are absent. I am dealing 
now with the Executive of the United States." 

A Senator — "Is he present?" 

Mr. Powell — " He is present in the capital; he is here 
in the city, and he has friends in this Chamber. I am not, 
therefore, like some Senators, who vindictively denounce 
gentlemen who are now in the rebellion, which they never 
dared do when those gentlemen were present as Senators 
and occupied seats on this floor. *****! think 
I have the right to arraign the President and all others in 
authority who violate the Constitution of my country. I 
have the right to do so, as a Senator of a free and sover- 
eign State. I am under oath. I am to sustain the Con- 
stitution, and it is my duty to assail all who infract that 
Constitution." 

On the 5th day of January, 1863, Governor Powell 
introduced a resolution in the United States Senate, in 
reference to Gen. Grant's extraordinary manifesto, issued 
on the 17th of the previous month, by which the Jews, 
"■ as a class," were expelled from the department of the 
Tennessee. The resolution came up for discussion on 
the 9th of January, when Governor Powell made a 
speech favoring its passage, from which we extract the 
annexed paragraphs : 

" I have in my possession documents that go to estab- 
lish the fact beyond the possibility of a doubt that the 
Jews, residents of the city of Paducah, Kentucky, some 
thirty gentlemen in number, were driven from their 
homes and their business by virtue of this order of Gen. 
Grant, only having the short notice of four and twenty 
hours; that the Jewish women and children of that city 



74 Lazarus W. Powell. 

were expelled under that order; that there was not a 
Jew left, man, woman, or child, except two women who 
were prostrate on beds of sickness. I have the evidence 
before me, set forth in a petition, and attested by some 
twelve or fourteen of the most respectable Union citizens 
of the city of Paducah, among others the Surveyor of the 
Port, that those Jews of Paducah had at no time been 
engaged in trade within the active lines of General 
Grant ; that they had all the while been engaged in 
legitimate business at their homes, and that there was 
but one Jew, a resident of Paducah, who had gone out 
of the State into the cotton region, and that one was 
not at home, and consequently was not expelled from 
his residence by this ruthless order. 

" Mr. President, if we tamely submit to allow the 
military power thus to encroach on the rights of the 
citizen, we shall be setting a bad and most pernicious 
example to those in command of our army. We should 
administer to those in command of our armies the 
sternest rebuke for such flagrant outrages upon the 
rights of the citizen. These people are represented by 
the most respectable citizens of Paducah to be loyal 
men. Many of them are men who were not engaged 
in commerce. They were mechanics, attending to their 
daily avocations at their homes. In my judgment, it is 
incumbent on this Senate, as the matter is before them, 
to pass the resolution, and let Gen. Grant and all the 
other military commanders know that they are not to 
encroach upon the rights and privileges of the peaceful 
loyal citizens of this country. Pass the resolution, and 
the example will be of the greatest importance, particu- 
larly at this time, when the constitutional rights of the 
citizens are being stricken down and trodden under foot 
throughout the entire country by the executive and mili- 
tary powers. We have submitted already too long and 
tamely to the encroachments of the military upon the 



His Public Life. 75 



civil rights of the citizen. Many of these Jews who 
were expelled from Paducah were known to nie for 
many years as highly honorable and loyal citizens. This 
order expels them as a class from the entire department, 
and prevents them having a pass to approach his person 
to ask a redress of grievances. General Grant might 
just as well expel the Baptists, or the Methodists, or the 
Episcopalians, or the Catholics, as a class, as to expel 
the Jews. All are alike protected in the enjoyment of 
their religion by the Constitution of our country. They 
are inoffensive citizens ; and it is set forth in papers that 
I have before me, that two of the Jews who were ex- 
pelled had served three months in the army of the United 
States in defense of the Union cause. 

" There is no excuse for General Grant for issuing the 
order. It may be said that some Jews in his department 
had been guilty of illegal ti-affic. If so, expel them. I 
do not wish to shield a Jew or a Gentile from just punish- 
ment for the infraction of the law. He should have di- 
rected his order to the otienders, and should have punished 
them ; but, sir, so far from doing that, he punishes a whole 
people as a class ; without specific charge, hearing, or 
trial, he drives out inoffensive, loyal people, men, women, 
and children, from a city far distant from hi-s headquarters, 
without giving them the least opportunity to meet and 
repel charges that might be brought against them. Such 
conduct is utterly indefensible. 1 regret that Gen. Grant 
issued such an order. Gen. Grant's conduct heretofore 
as a soldier has been that of a brave and a gallant oliicer ; 
he has fought well on many fields ; for that I commend 
him. But while I commend him for his gallant conduct, 
I must censure him for this most atrocious and illegal 
order. It is inhuman and monstrous. It would be un- 
worthy of the most despotic government in the most 
despotic period of the world's history. Sir, we should 
rebuke such conduct. I regret that some other less meri- 



76 Lazarus W. Powell. 

torious officer of the army had not issued this order. I 
regret that Gen. Grant has issued it ; but, sir, we owe it 
to ourselves, we owe it to the civil and religious liberty 
of the citizen, to put our condemnation upon it." 

It is a well known fact that the freedom of elections 
in Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and other States, was 
imperiously contemned by the executive and his military 
subordinates, from the moment the Federal power ob- 
tained control over the populations of these Common- 
wealths, through its stationary garrisons of armed troops. 
In Kentucky, as early as 1863, the State Democratic 
Convention that assembled at Frankfort, was dispersed 
by the military, and its members threatened with arrest, 
should they attempt to reassemble. With a Democratic 
majority in the State of fully forty thousand votes, the 
candidate of the party for the office of Governor — the 
Hon. Charles A. Wickliffe — ^was defeated in the election 
of that year, through the action of the military, who took 
forcible possession of the polls in many places, closed 
them altogether in others, and allowed none to vote who 
were unwilling to do so in accordance with the views 
of the party in power. In February, 1864, a bill was 
introduced into the United States Senate '■ to prevent 
officers of the army and navy, and other persons engaged 
in the military and naval service of the United States, 
from interfering in elections in the States." The bill 
provided that all such officers, on conviction of having 
interfered to prevent free elections in the States, should 
be punished by fine and imprisonment, and should be 
forever debarred from holding office under the Govern- 
ment of the United States. On the 3d and 4th of March 
following the introduction pf the bill. Governor Powell 
addresssed the Senate at great length in support of the 
measure. The following paragraphs from this speech 
will be read with interest: 

"It cannot be doubted that upon the keeping of the 
elective franchise absolutely free depends the very exist- 



His Public Life. 77 



ence of our form of government and our republican in- 
stitutions!. Free States, in all ages, have regarded the 
purity of the elective franchise as of the greatest and 
most vital importance, and have enacted severe penal 
laws for the punishment of those who interfered, by force 
or fraud, to prevent free elections. I believe there is no 
Government on the face of the earth in which elections 
have been carried on for the purpose of appointing any 
of the officers of the Govei-nment, save and except the 
United States of America, that has not had laws to pun- 
ish, and severely punish, those who should interfere with 
the fi'eedom of the elective franchise. All the Republics 
of anti(iuity had the severest laws punishing those who 
interfered with the freedom of their elections. 

" By the spirit of the Constitution of the United States, 
and by the Constitution of every State in the Union, the 
military is to be kept in strict subordination to the civil 
power ; and I suppose that those who went before us never 
thouglit we should have rulers so wicked and corrupt as 
to use the machinery of the Federal Government for the 
purpose of prostrating the freedom of elections in the 
States ; otherwise, I am sure that such laws as the one 
before us would have been enacted long before this. I find, 
upon examination, that seven of the States of the Union 
have enacted statutes to prevent soldiers making their 
appearance on election day at the places where the elec- 
tions are held. 

"With us, Mr. President, sovereignty resides in the peo- 
ple, and the people, by the exercise of free suffrage, declare 
their will and appoint their agencies to carry on the Gov- 
ernment. He who attempts to interfere with this most 
inestimable right, whether he be President, Major General, 
or citizen, is an enemy to the Republic, and deserves the 
harshest punishment. In order to have free elections, 
there must be free speech and a free press; the sovereign 
people must have an opportunity of forming an enlight- 



78 Lazarus W. Powell. 

ened public opinion upon the questions at issue, which 
can only be done after full and free discussion. Free 
speech and a free press in a Government like ours are the 
soul of republican institutions ; free suffrage is the very 
Jtie art-strings of civil liberty. To be free, the elections 
must be conducted in accordance with laws so framed 
as to prevent fraud, force, intimidation, corruption, and 
venality, superintended by election judges and officers 
independent of the Executive or any other power of the 
Government. 

" The Committee on Military Affairs, who made a very 
elaborate report, which I have before me, and which I 
shall presently review, justify the military in all they have 
done in controlling elections. The sole object and design 
of the commit'tee, in their report, seems to be the justifi- 
cation and vindication of the military authorities for their 
atrocious assault on the rights of the States and the liber- 
ties of the people, and their wicked and illegal interfer- 
ence in elections ; and they assault every person who says 
or does anything tending to prove that the military have 
usurped powers that belong to the civil officers of the 
States and to the people. The committee justify the 
President and the military authorities for this interference 
in elections upon the ground that it was right and proper 
that the military arm should have been so used to protect 
the voters — "the loyal voters," as they are called in the 
report. The Constitution prescribes the duty of the Chief 
Magistrate on this subject, and the President of the United 
States has no auhority or power to send his military into 
one of the adhering States for the purpose of preventing 
domestic violence at the polls, unless he had been invited 
to do so by the State authorities; for the Constitution 
plainly and distinctly provides that he shall do it on appli- 
cation of the Legislature, if in session, and if that cannot 
be, then on the application of the Executive. 



Hrs Public Life. 79 



"There never was a time, it does not exist now, and 
has not existed since this unfortunate civil war com- 
menced, in which it was necessary for the President to 
overthrow the Constitution and elevate the military above 
the civil power. There is power enough in the Constitu- 
tion to furnish the President every dollar and evei-y man 
needed for this war. Congress can give him the sword and 
the purse. What more can you confer? Nothing. Where, 
then, the necessity and the excuse for these wanton viola- 
tions of the Constitution, this reckless overthrow of the 
liberties of the people, this setting at naught the laws and 
the Constitutions of the States, the regulating of elections 
by the sword? None !— none ! The genius of our Gov- 
ernment is founded upon the principle that the military 
shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power." 

We have no room, either for the detailed evidence 
given by Governor Powell of the fact that the President 
and his subordinates had wrongfully interfered in the 
State elections, or for the authorities quoted by him in 
proof of his position that the Constitution gave no such 
power to interfere, whether to him or them. In the latter 
part of his speech, Gov. Powell thus pays his respects to 
Secretary Stanton and Gen. B. F. Butler, with reference 
to the extraordinary order of the former of November 30, 
1863, by which he undertook to transfer certain Southern 
churches from the ow^nership and occupancy of their 
legitimate pastors and proprietors to parties whose loyal- 
ty he was not so much disposed to question : 

" The Secretary of War, by virtue of what authority 
I do not know, has undertaken to administer the churches. 
Yes, sir, Edwin M. Stanton and General Butler are mak- 
ing themselves a kind of chief pontiffs, and are ' running 
the churches,' the one in the valley of the Mississippi 
and the other in Norfolk and Portsmouth. If the Presi- 
dent had decided to appoint persons to regulate and 
supervise the churches, and to take the religion of the 



80 Lazarus W. Powell. 

people under his control, I would have supposed he 
would have selected gentlemen distinguished for their 
charity, kindness, and benevolence; men of high moral 
tone, meek and gentle in their manners ; men eminent 
for their piety and theological learning, whose lives were 
adorned with every Christian virtue, to have discharged 
this most responsible and delicate trust. The two per- 
sons who have unlawfully assumed the control of the 
churches have none of the qualifications that I have 
indicated. If the President had searched the entire 
country, I do not believe he could have found two per- 
sons upon whom to confer this delicate trust more un- 
savory than Edwin M. Stanton and Benjamin F. Butler. 
In their manners and intercourse they are both heartless 
ruffians ; they are strangers to kindness, gentleness, be- 
nevolence, and those elevated manly virtues that grace- 
fully adorn the life of a Christian gentleman. But, sir, 
they have usurped the power to control the churches in 
the localities I have mentioned, in violation of the Con- 
stitution and the rights of the people who own those 
houses of public worship. 

" There is a little curious history about this subject. 
I have here the order of the Secretary of War placing 
under the control of Bishop Ames all the churches of the 
departments of the Missouri, the Tennessee, and the 
Gulf, belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
This is one of the most startling usurpations of the mili- 
tary power that has fallen under my notice. The Con- 
stitution secures religious freedom to the citizen explicitly. 
Where did the Secretary of War get the power to trans- 
fer all these churches to the control of Bishop Ames? 

" Sir, the first article in the Amendments of the Consti- 
tution says: 

'"Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' 
" The Secretary of War violated that provision of the 
Constitution when he assumed jurisdiction over these 



His Public Life. 81 



churches. By what authority does he assume to appoint 
indirectly, through Bishop Ames, ministers to all the 
churches in the three departments mentioned belonging 
to the people called the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South ? Bishop Ames does not belong to that Church 
himself. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
North. The Methodist Episcopal Church, North, and the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, are two separate and 
distinct institutions. They divided, I believe, in May, 
1845. Since then they have been separate and distinct 
ecclesiastical bodies. Mr. Stanton, by this unauthorized 
and unconstitutional order, has clothed Bishop Ames with 
the power to take possession of all those churches. The 
minister may be loyal, but if he happens to have been 
appointed by a disloyal Bishop, he must be kicked out." 

On the 19th of December, 1804, Governor Powell 
presented in the Senate a resolution of inquiry in refer- 
ence to the arrest of " two prominent citizens of Ken- 
tucky, Colonel R. T. Jacob, Lieutenant Governor of 
Kentucky, and Colonel Frank Wolford, one of the 
Presidential Elector.s of the State." During the discus- 
sion which followed the presentation of the resolution, 
Governor Powell thus gave expression to his views: 

" The Senator from Missouri (Mr. Henderson) and the 
Senator from Iowa (Mr.- Grimes), and others, have said 
that they believe that, when the facts shall be made 
known to us by his Excellency, the President, the mili- 
tary authorities will be vindicated for these arrests. 
That may be, but I do not think it will be so. I believe 
that these gentlemen have been arrested wrongfully. 
They were certainly arrested without warrant as pre- 
scribed in the Constitution and laws of their country, 
and I know them well enough to know that if they are 
charged with any crime or offense, all they want is to 
be brought before a legally constituted tribunal and 
tried. As a personal and political friend of Lieutenant 
6 



82 Lazarus W. Powell. 



Governor Jacob and Colonel Wolford, I court the inves- 
tigation. They are Christian gentlemen ; they are men 
of ability ; they are men of honor; they are brave men, 
and they have attested their bravery on many a well- 
fought battle-field. Such men cannot be guilty of crime; 
and I will say here for them, as their friend and their 
representative, that all they ask is to meet their accusers 
face to face. One of them we know to be in close con- 
finement; we know not where the other is; he was 
ordered through the lines, and it was said in tl^e news- 
papers that the Confederate authorities refused to receive 
him, and he was brought back again. He is the second 
civil officer in the Government of Kentucky, and he 
ought to be there to attend to his official duties. These 
gentlemen, when they were arrested, were both citizens, 
though they had both been in the army and rendered 
distinguished service. I did not expect that any opposi- 
tion would be made to this resolution. I had supposed 
that here at least there was still left some lingering love 
for the constitutional and civil liberties of the citizen. 
I had supposed that there was still some regard felt here 
for those who, during this rebellion, had periled their 
lives in the Union cause in a hundred battles." 

On the 18th of January, Governor Powell called up 
the resolution, some time before offered by him, by which 
the Secretary of War was directed to transmit to the 
Senate the report made by a commission appointed to 
investigate the conduct of General Paine while in com- 
mand at Paducah. A lengthy discussion followed, in 
which many Senators took part, the majority striving to 
stille all inquiry into the doings of one of the most cruel, 
barbarous, and dishonest of all tl>e bad men that were 
placed in authority during the war over the destinies of 
a suftering people. Governor Powell supported his reso- 
lution in a speech of some length, in which he said that 
the report, of which he had read a newspaper account, 



His Public Life. 83 



" disclosed a degree of barbarity, cruelty, and pillage" 
which, he dared say, '• had not been equaled in the 
annals of any Christian people. I have reason to believe, 
that when the facts shall be known, that in all the dark 
and bloody annals of tyrants, there never has been, in 
any Christian age, such acts of cruelty and plunder as 
have been afflicted on the people of Paducah and the 
surrounding country by this man Paine and his confeder- 
ates. I wish them brought to trial, and, if found guilty, 
to be punished with death; for if one tittle of the state- 
ments in these papers be true, that is the lightest punish- 
ment they deserve." 

Mr. CoNNESs, of California — " Mr. President, if it were 
not .an ordinary circumstance for the honorable Senator 
from Kentucky to launch his denunciations against the 
oHicers of the Giovernment in this Chamber, I would feel, 
for one, more inclined to vote with him on such occasions 
as the present. I confess that I am tired of listening 
to his ex parte statements; and I wish to put my protest 
here, and to invite the honorable Senator from Kentucky 
occasionally to divide his vengeance with the cruel and 
barbarous wretches who have persecuted, starved, and 
murdered our brave men in the held who have been 
taken prisoners." 

Mr. Powell — " Mr. President, one word to the Senator 
from California. He seems to think he is a kind oi censor 
tnorum of the Senate, and says he is tired — tired of hear- 
ing my denunciation of Union officers. I dare say the 
Senator will grow much more tired than he is already. 
I am not responsible for the Senator's being wearied when 
he hears criminals, robbers, and thieves denounced. If it 
wearies the Senator to hear such men denounced, I care 
not if he should faint under the exhaustion. I have never 
denounced a soldier who did his duty. I honor the brave 
Christian gentleman and soldier who carries the Hag of 
his country amid the storm of battle. All honor to the 



84 Lazarus W. Powell. 



brave soldiers who fight and do not steal. Disgrace and 
infamy eternal to all pillagers and plunderers. Upon 
what battle-field did Gen, Paine wdn honors? And of all 
the men who have been charged with peculation, and 
have been denounced by me, let the Senator point to a 
single battle-field where they carried the stars and stripes 
to victory. Men who go about punishing women and 
children, and plundering the people, are miscreants and 
cowards; they disgrace your arms when you intrust them 
with commands. I have denounced none except those 
who I believed were guilty of crime, of peculation, and 
robbery ; and all 1 desire in regard to such is, that they 
shall be tried, and, if found guilty, punished. The Senator 
thinks I should denounce other people, I denounce all 
cruelty to prisoners, whether it be by rebel or Union men. 
No true-hearted and brave soldier will do anything of the 
kind. I think I know something about my duties here, 
and how 1 ought to present questions to the Senate ; and 
I think it is not becoming in that Senator to tell me what 
character of speeches I shall make. Neither does it be- 
come him, w4ien I am talking about the misconduct of an 
ofiicer of my own Government, to demand of me that 1 
go outside and abuse rebels and rebeklom." 

When in 1864 the party in power threw aside the pre- 
tense that the war was being conducted for the object of 
restoring the Union, with the rights of the States pre- 
served, and brought forward its joint resolution propos- 
ing amendments to the Constitution, one of which was 
to the efi'ect that involuntary servitude, except for crime^ 
should no longer be permitted to exist in any State of 
the Union, he denounced the action of the majority with 
great force and power. He " did not believe that it was 
ever designed by the founders of the government that 
the Constitution should be so amended as to destroy 
property," He continued : 

" I do not believe it is the province of the Federal 
Government to say what is or what is not property. Its 



His Public Life. 85 



province is to guard, protect, and secure, rather than to 
destroy. If yoa admit the principle contended for by the 
gentlemen who urge this amendment, logic M^ould lead 
them to the conclusion that the General Government 
couid, by an amendment to its Constitution, regulate 
every domestic matter in the States. If it, by constitu- 
tional amendment, can regulate the relation of master 
and servant, it certainly can, on the same principle, 
make regulations concerning the relation of parent and 
child, husband and wife, and guardian and ward. If it 
has the right to strike down property in slaves, it cer- 
tainly would have a right to strike down property in 
horses, to make a partition of the land, and to say that 
none shall hold land in any State in the Union in fee 
simple. It is not my purpose, however, to discuss the 
question in that light, for it has been elaborately discussed 
before. 

" I do not think, Mr. President, that those who are now 
urging this constitutional amendment have acted in good 
faith toward the adhering slave States. If you will 
trace their history from the very beginning in connection 
with this whole subject of slavery in the States, I think 
you will find that they have not acted with that direct- 
ness and candor that should characterize bold, honest, 
and fearless men. Why, sir, do you suppose that such 
propositions would have been proposed heretofore? Not 
at all. We were told by the Government, in every form 
in which it could speak, at the beginning of this revolu- 
tion, that whatever might be the result, the institutions 
of the States would remain as they were. The President, 
in his inaugural address, announced that he had no 
constitutional power to interfere with the institution of 
slavery in the States. The Secretary of State announced 
it in a communication, which he sent abroad. Congress, 
by a resolution, announced virtually the same thing when 
they declared that the object of the war was to restore 



86 Lazarus W. Powell. 



the Union as it was and to maintain the Constitution as 

it is. 

"All these measures and promises have been utterly- 
repudiated by the party in power. It seems as if their 
sole object was to deceive in order to obtain power, and 
the moment they obtain power they exercise it. We are 
surrounded by circumstances that cause these valiant 
knights to think they can do this with impunity, and at 
once they go to work. Heretofore they have said that 
not only they had not the power, but whatever might be 
the result of the present contest, the status of this insti- 
tution would remain as it was. I do not mean to say 
that they said they had no power to pass a constitutional 
amendment; but this portion of my remarks is directed 
to other policies that have been advocated and other 
laws that have been passed or are now proposed in this 
Chamber. I think it must be admitted by all candid men 
that the border States have been dealt with in bad faith. 
The Government has not kept faith with them. All can- 
did, all truthful, all honest men must know it and must 
admit it." 

The extracts which we have given from speeches made 
by Governor Powell in the United States Senate will 
not only suffice to give the reader a competent idea of 
his style and the force of his language, but will enable 
him to see also how entirely consistent he was in the 
enunciation of his views. With all the master-minds 
of the era that preceded that in which wide-spread 
fanaticism involved the country in civil war, his idea of 
our form of government was, that it was a compact 
between sovereign States, binding upon each of its mem- 
bers so long and in so far as its reserved rights were ac- 
knowledged and protected thereunder. He did not 
believe that the Federal Government had any rightful 
power, under the Constitution, to make war upon the 
Southern States in order to keep them in the Union ; 



His Public Life. 87 



and believing so, he voted boldly and consistently against 
every measure brought forward in the National Congress 
looking to coercion as a means of restoring the Union. 

His sympathies were, doubtless, with the people of his 
own section, not because he thought their representatives 
had acted wisely or well, but because of the fact — which 
none knew better than he — that they had been goaded 
into a false position by a thoroughly fanatical and a 
thoroughly selfish majority, whose fixed determination 
it was, from the beginning, either to destroy the institu- 
tion of slavery, or themselves to form a government from 
which should be excluded the entire slave territory. 

As to slavery, abstractly speaking, he would doubtless 
have been well pleased if no such institution existed in 
the country. But the slaves were here. They had been 
recognized as property for ages. They could not live 
as equals of the whites in the same territory, and there 
was no possibility of colonizing them in other lands 
without bankrupting the countiy. As a general thing, 
they were treated humanely, and were contented and 
happy. Their situation was a thousand times better 
than was that of any of their race on the face of the 
globe. The humanizing and elevating influence of the 
Christian religion was being felt among them, and daily 
the acknowledged evils of the system were being dimin- 
ished. These evils would have gradually disappeared 
altogether had it not been for the constant agitation that 
had been kept up for twenty years or more in the North 
against the system. Their own safety from violence at 
the hands of an ignorant and infuriated race obliged 
the people of the South to keep out of their territory the 
propagators of revolutionary ideas, and the dissemination 
in the South of books and papers in which these ideas 
were upheld natui'ally prevented Southern men fi-om 
attempting to educate their slaves. For these reasons, 
and many others — the principal of which were the unfit- 



88 Lazarus W. Powell. 



ness of the slaves for the responsibilities of a higher 
social position in the State, and their well known inca- 
pacity to take care of themselves — Governor Powell, 
and thousands of other good and philanthropic men, 
were utterly opposed to any action on the part of the 
Federal Government looking to the immediate and en- 
forced emancipation of the blacks.* 

He felt keenly the great wrong which would be done 
to thousands of innocent parties all over the South by 
the enforced emancipation of their slaves. He could not 
see why the widows and orphans who were slave-owners 
in that section, and the many other persons who had 
taken no part in the rebellion, should be compelled to 
give up their property for an object that was deemed 
necessary for the welfare of the whole country, while the 
entire population of the North — though no more loyal — 
were to be exempted from any of its costs. He often 
referred in his speeches to the bad faith of the Govern- 
ment toward Kentucky and the other border States in 
regard to the enforced emancipation of their slaves, and 
the consequent destruction of the property of their citi- 

* Emancipation, though now an accomplished fact, is still only an experi- 
ment; and, so far as the blacks are concerned, is thought by many to be 
one of extremely problematical value. No one now believes that the white 
and black races can live together on a footing of complete social and politi- 
cal equality. One or the other race will certainly have io take the inferior 
position, and that it will not be the whites that will do this, is sufficiently 
evidenced by the known characteristics of the two races. That the negroes, 
taken as a body, are as well cared for, as well fed, and as well clothed, or 
that they are less disposed to be vicious, or less subject to disease, since 
their emancipation, no one that knows anything about the subject will pre- 
tend to say. Wholly unprepared for the responsibilities of the position 
which they have been made to occupy, and prone by nature and habit to 
improvidence and carelessness in regard to the future, there can be but little 
hope that sudden emancipation will prove a benefit to them or to the country. 
That the whites of the South, if permitted, -will labor to improve their 
condition, both social and moral, there can be no question. The character 
which Southerners have heretofore borne for humanity is a sufficient assur- 
ance of this. But whatever may be the solution of the experiment of negro 
emancipation, social and political equality with the whites will never be 
one of its permanent results. 



His Public Life. 89 



zens. Kentucky had never seceded, and she had never 
been out of the Union. In the opinion of many persons, 
in the North as well as in the South, it was to this fact , 
that was to be attributed the success of the Union armies. 
She had furnished her quota of men to the armies of the 
government, and her sons had laid down their lives fight- 
ing for the integrity of the Union, on almost every battle- 
field of the war. Her territory had been overrun by the 
armies of both sections, her substance eaten up, her 
fields laid waste, and her citizens plundered ; and now, 
because, it would seem, of the very miseries she had 
endured, she was to be made to pay a heavier price for 
the removal of what was considered the great obstacle 
in the way of national unity and peace than all her 
sister Commonwealths of the A^orth put together. Gov- 
ernor Powell was in the habit of commenting with be- 
coming freedom and with just severity upon this whole 
scheme of the administration, which he looked upon not 
only as highly dishonorable, but as cruelly unjust. 

In the winter of 1866-7, the name of Governor Powell 
was again presented to the Legislature, then in session, 
for the position of United States Senator. Many of the 
members of both Houses of the General Assembly for 
the session named had secured their seats through the 
influence and intervention of the military authorities 
which had been scattered over the State at the date of 
their election. None of these were Democrats, and few, 
if any, truly represented the views of their constituencies. 
Although constituting a minority in the body of which 
they were members, these Radicals and quasi Radicals 
found themselves numerous enough to prevent the elec- 
tion of one who had made himself especially obnoxious 
to them on account of his denunciation in the United 
States Senate of the means that had secured to them 
their seats. The balloting was carried on for weeks, 
without any result. At length, it becoming apparent to 
Governor Powell that the object of the Radical element 



90 Lazarus W. Powell. 



in the Legislature was to prevent, if possible, any elec- 
tion at all of a Senator in Congress during the session, 
and thus to leave Kentucky so far unrepresented in the 
councils of the nation, he w^rote to his friends in that 
body a patriotic letter, in which he begged them to with- 
draw his name, and to make a nomination that would 
insure a number of votes sufficient to counteract the 
machinations of their Radical and anti-Democratic fel- 
low-members. His advice was followed, and the result 
was the election of the Hon. Garrett Davis. 

In looking over the record of Governor Powell's public 
life, we are struck with its singular unity and consistency. 
His political integrity was without blemish. Never did 
he assume a position that was not in perfect keeping 
with his political faith. He opposed secession, not only 
because he believed it to be no proper remedy for the 
evils it was designed to cure, but because, with his whole 
heart and soul, he was attached to the Union of the 
States. He opposed the war of coercion, not only be- 
cause he believed that the Federal Government had no 
rightful authority to carry on a war against sovereign 
States, but because he felt that such a course would en- 
danger the Constitution and tend to the formation of a 
consolidated and despotic government. He believed, 
with many of the wisest men of the country, that peace- 
ful secession was better than war. He believed that the 
sober second thought of the people would soon discover 
away to recover their abandoned unity, without expense, 
without bloodshed, and without that bitterness of feeling 
which is a concomitant of all civil wars. Who shall say 
that he, and the thousands of his countrymen that thought 
as he did, were wrong? Not, assuredly, any great num- 
ber of his fellow-citizens of Kentucky. Not, certainly, 
they who, in their own names and in the names of the 
representatives of the people by whose authority they 
act, lay this tribute of their respect upon his honored 
grave. 



APPENDIX. 



Testimonial of Respfx't to the Memory of the Hon. L. 
W. Powell. 

At a meeting: of the bar of Henderson, lield on the 5th 
day of July, 18G7, of which the Hon. Archibald Dixon was 
called to the Chair, and Malcolm Yeaman, Esq., appointed 
Secretary, the following expression, in mcmorlam of the 
Hon. L. W. Powell, was adopted : 

" The Great Creator having stricken in death the Hon. 
L. W. Pow^ELL, we, his associates in the legal profession, 
deem it fit to add our tribute of respect to his memory. 
Some of us have known him from early life — all of us 
for many years. To know^ him was to love him, and 
those who knew him best loved him most. As a public 
man, his name and reputation are national, and insepa- 
rably interwoven with these are those rarest of jewels, sel- 
dom possessed by politicians — honesty and consistency. 
His highest aim was to serve his country — his greatest 
desire its peace, prosperity, and liberty. 

" As a citizen, he was kind and gentle to all, ever ready 
to extend the hand of welcome to the stranger, and of help 
to the needy. As a lawyer, he was faithful to his trust, 
vigilant, and industrious — at all times bringing to bear his 
great powers of intellect to the interest of his client, and 
ever courteous and generous to his adversary. As a man, 
he was honest and true, bearing malice to none, and do- 
ing to others as he would have them do unto him. Always 
a lover of peace, and possessing a heart overllowing with 
kindly impulses, his loss will be great to the whole coun- 
try, but none will lament it more than we who knew him 
best. 



92 



Appendix. 



" It is our request that this testimonial to the memory of 
our departed friend be spread on the records of our sev- 
eral courts, and that our city papers publish the same. 

" We tender to the bereaved family of the deceased our 
heartfelt sympathy and condolence. 
" (Sij^ned,) 



'' ARCH'LD DIXON, Ch'n, 
"JOHN W. CROCKETT, 
"BEN. P. CISSELL, 
"HARVEY YE AM AN, 
"CHARLES EAVES, 
"GEORGE H. TAYLOR, 
" H. F. TURxNER, 
" A. J. ANDERSON, 
"A. T. DUDLEY, 



S. B. VANCE, 

HENRY DIXON, 

JOHN YOUNG BROWN, 

JAMES F. CLAY, 

MALCOLM YEAMAN, 

GRANT GREEN, 

P. H. LOCKETT, 

J. C. ATKINSON, 

J. P. BRECKINRIDGE." 



The annexed notice of the death of Governor Powell 
was written by his old friend and school-fellow, the Hon. 
Samuel B. Churchill, the present Secretary of State of 
Kentucky, and first appeared in the columns of the Frank- 
Jorl Yeoman on the Otli day of July, 1867 : 

GOVERNOR L. W. POWELL. 
Kentucky has lost one of her brightest jewels. Gov. 
Lazarus W. Powell is no more, having breathed his last 
at Henderson at four o'clock on the evening of July the 
3d. A wail of sorrow will come up from every county 
in the State, for he was honored and loved wherever 
known — and he was well known throughout the length 
and breadth of the entire Commonwealth. He lea;ves 
behind him a name as unsullied as the spotless snow, and 
Kentucky will engrave it upon the tablets which transmit 
to posterity the memory of her Clays and Rowans, her 
Beeckl\rid(;es and Crittendens, and her illustrious host 



Appendix. 93 

of heroes and statesmen who have ah-eady passed "tlie 
slender bounds which separate time from eternity." 

We knew Governor Powell intimately, long, and well. 
We were school-boys together, and well do we recollect 
the first day he entered St. Joseph's College, at Bards- 
town, He came there in 1830, a tall, manly, energetic 
boy, full of life and pluck, eager after knowledge ; and 
most rapid was his advancement. He came alone, MJih- 
out acquaintance or friend, and unknown to all; but his 
genial manners, his noble bearing, his briglut intellect, 
and close application to study, soon won for him a host 
of friends. He not only won the friendship but the 
perfect confidence and esteem of all, and they felt that, 
\vhen he went forth to the battle of life, he would not 
only leave behind him an unsullied name, but that he too, 
perchance, might leave his foot-prints on the sands of 
time. Many of those college boys have passed to the 
shadowy land; but there remains not one, wherever he 
may be, whose eyes wall not be suffused with tears when 
he reads the sad announcement of his death. 

In 1833 he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts, and 
then commenced the study of the law with the distin- 
guished Rowan. Judge Rowan was not only one of the 
greatest orators, but one of the most thoroughly accom- 
plished gentlemen of his day— the very soul of truth and 
honor; and, listening to the counsel and instruction which 
fell from the lips of this wise Gamaliel, Governor Powell 
learned those lessons of truth, w^isdom., and justice which 
he never forgot or cast aside throughout his whole bril- 
liant career. Governor Powrll also attended the law 
lectures at Transylvania University, and was admitted 
to the bar in 183.5. 

Governor Powell commenced the practice of his pro- 
fession in the county of Henderson, where he was born 
October the 6th, 1812, and he soon took rank with the 
first lawyers of the State. He was not permitted, how- 



94 Appendix. 

ever, to devote his time entirely to his profession ; for, as 
early as 183G, he was elected a member of the House of 
Representatives, where he gave promise of that future 
which he so nobly redeemed in after years. In 1844 he 
canvassed a portion of the State as one of the electors 
for President Polk, and in 1848 he was the Democratic 
candidate for Governor. His opponent was the Hon. 
John J. Crittenden, who was the candidate of the Whigs, 
and who was one of the most popular and brilliant men 
that ever adorned the State. The Whigs at that time 
were in the ascendency ; but in that heated contest Gov. 
Powell exhibited such energy, eloquence, and talents, as 
made him then the acknowledged leader of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

In 1851 Governor Powell was again the Democratic 
candidate, and was triumphantly elected. For twenty 
years before this the Whigs had entire control of the 
State, and when he came to Frankfort to administer the 
government he had much to encounter, both in the way 
of social and political prejudice. At that time partisan 
feeling ran high; but no man in the whole State could 
have been elected Governor who was more fitted for the 
difficult position in which he was placed. Dignified and 
yet afl'able, manly and yet courteous, and dispensing a 
hospitality alike graceful, profuse, and heartfelt, he ban- 
ished all political asperities from the social circle, whilst 
his administration of public afi'airs was marked by pru- 
dence and energy, purity and firmness, statesmanship and 
wisdom. - 

During his term of office there was no embezzlement 
of the public moneys, no fraud, no peculation, no oppres- 
sion, but four years of uninterrupted confidence and quiet 
and happiness among the people. They knew that an 
honest man and able statesman was at the helm, and 
that the ship of State was moored in a safe harbor. In 
Frankfort Governor Powell will be long remembered, 



Appendix. 95 

both as the eminent statesman and the gentleman, who 
made the Executive Mansion the iiome of elegance, hos- 
pitality, and retinement. 

When we had the prospect of a Mormon war. Gov. 
Powell was appointed by President Buchanan one of the 
Peace Commissioners to visit Utah, and, in compliance 
with instructions and the duties of his office, he pro- 
ceeded to Salt Lake City in the spring of 1858. We 
met him in St. Louis on his way there, and found that 
he was tilled with the hope that he would be able to give 
quiet to the country and prevent all unnecessary effusion 
of blood. That distinguished General, Albert Sidney 
Johnston, was in command of the military, and, by the 
joint eflbrts of himself and the Commissioners, quiet and 
order was restored without the firing of a single gun. 

Returning from this mission, Avhere he had rendered 
such signal service to his country, he took his seat in the 
Senate of the United States on the 4th day of March, 
1859, the Hon. John J. Crittenden being his colleague. 
At this time the political atmosphere looked darkly 
ominous of coming evils, and, in 18G0, in a calamitous 
hour for the Republic, Auraham Lincoln was elected 
President. Most of the Southern States seceded, and 
many Senators retired from their places in the Senate. 
Ctov. Powell, however, retained his seat to the conclu- 
sion of his term, and his manly voice was constantly 
raised in behalf of the Constitution and civil liberty. 
Although threatened with imprisonment and exile, his 
brave heart was not daunted, and his eloquent denuncia- 
tions of the usurpations of the Government were read 
throughout the land. Nobly did he vindicate the privi- 
leges of the writ of habeas corpus, and many a lonely 
prisoner, ruthlessly torn from his family and sent without 
trial or accusation to be immured in the gloom of loath- 
some bastiles, felt his heart cheered and his hopes revive 
when he heard how nobly and fearlessly the Kentucky 



96 Appendix. 

Senator stood forth in defense of the Constitution and 
the liberty of free speech and a free press. 

His voice will be heard on earth no more, but his noble 
deeds will be remembered, and his memory will be cher- 
ished in the hearts of all true Kentuckians. Passion and 
prejudice will pass away, and coming generations will 
enshrine his name among the truest patriots of the land. 
When the base sycophants of power who are willing to 
degrade their own race, and " bend the supple hinges of 
the knee that thrift may follow fawning," have sunk into 
infamy, then will the name of Lazarus Powell shine 
forth as pure and bright as the stars of Heaven. Oh 
that he had lived to have seen restored the liberties of 
his country ! How sadly do we miss him, and how much 
we need his counsel now. Kentucky would love so much 
to honor him and to show all the world how much she 
prized and valued and loved him ; but, alas ! he can 
receive no more honors, and can do the State no more 
service. He was one of the most sincere, candid, and 
upright men we ever knew, and no man ever confided 
in him in vain. Frank and open in the avowal of his 
principles, he was always ready to maintain what he 
believed to be truth, and was in its truest sense an hon- 
est man — that noblest work of God. 

Let Kentucky, his native State, and the State he so 
much loved, guard well his name and fame, that, in the 
great Hereafter, it may shine forth as a beacon light to 
cheer on her sons who tread the paths of honesty and 
honor. Such men as Lazarus W. Powell are the bright- 
est jewels of a State, and are the gems which glorify 
God, dignify man, and ennoble history. 



Appendix. 97 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN RELATION TO 
THE DEATH OF GOVERNOR POWELL. 

On the 5th day of March, Mr. I. A. Spalding, in the 

Senate, and Governor Beriah Magoffin, in the House of 

Representatives, reported the following- resolutions from 

the several committees to whom had been referred that 

portion of the Governor's message which relates to the 

death of Governor L. W. Powell : 

Whereas, An inscrutable Providence has terminated the 
career of Lazarus W. Powell, in the prime of his man- 
hood and in the maturity of his fame, it is deemed 
fitting and proper that the representatives of the people 
of his native State should pay a becoming tribute to his 
memory and give formal expression to their appi-eciation 
of his virtues. Nature had richly endowed him with all 
the nobler characteristics of the people among whom he 
was born and had lived, and these characteristics he 
illustrated in every relation of life. lie was an indul- 
gent yet watchful parent, a generous and exemplary 
citizen, a sincere and unfaltering friend, a sagacious and 
prudent statesman, a brave and incorruptible patriot, 
whose philanthropy embraced all his kind and all his 
country ; therefore, be it 

1. Resolved by the Gericred Assembly of the Commonwealth 
of Kentucky, That in the death of Lazarus W. Powell 
the State has lost one of her most cherished sons, the 
people one of their most trusted and valued friends, and 
the Republic a statesman whose wise counsels and lofty 
patriotism were never more needed than in the perils 
through which the country is now passing. 

2. That we sincerely sympathize with his children and 
family in the iri-eparable loss they have sustained. 

3. That, as a mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, we will wear the usual badge of mourning for 
thirty days, and that a copy of the foregoing resolutions 
be transmitted to his family. 

Said resolutions were twice read and unanimously 

adopted. 

7 



REMARKS OF SENATORS. 



REMARKS OF MR. I. A. SPALDING, OF UNION. 

Mr. Speaker : The resolutions just read recall to our 
minds a man whose life was the pride of the people of 
Kentucky, and whose death fills their hearts with sorrow. 
In adopting them, we propose not merely to observe a 
custom — not to ofler a cold and formal tribute to departed 
greatness, nor to tender empty adulations to gilded and 
soulless glory — but we come, in obedience to the dictates 
of a generous affection, and as the representatives of a 
stricken Commonwealth, to render a mournful tribute to 
to the name and memory of one of her most gifted and 
beloved sons. 

No country has more glorious recollections than Ken- 
tucky, and no people cherish them with a deeper rever- 
ence than do her children. 

The world always appreciates and honors true great- 
ness. In all ages and among all peoples, the richest 
treasures of language and the best efforts of genius have 
been lavished in the attempt to honor the names and per- 
petuate the virtues of the great. 

And should the benign genius of our Commonwealth — 
the nursing mother of us all — summon from her silent 
sepulchres those of her children who have best illustrated 
the virtues of true manhood and elevated statesmanship, 
prominent in their ranks would stand him whose loss we 
now deplore and whose name we here unite to honor. 

Equal to the duties and responsibilities of every station 
to which he was called, CTOvernor Powell seemed pre- 
eminently endowed with the virtues appropriate to all 
the relations of life. The history of such a man is a 



Appendix. 99 

most useful study. In contemplating it we are impressed 
not more with the noble objects of his ambition and the 
splendid success achieved in their pursuit, than with the 
sublime and beautiful virtues that adorned his course. 
And we cannot fail to be impressed by its lessons with a 
higher regard for that truth and justice and patriotism 
which characterized his life. 

Lazarus W. Powell \vas born in Henderson county, in 
this State, on the 6th day of October, 1812, and grew up 
to manhood amid the wild and rugged scenes of what 
was then a backwoods country. On this hardy theater 
he developed a form naturally good into the full propor- 
tions of a perfect manhood, and a disposition naturally 
frank, sincere, and kind into a perfect model of cordial 
and generous and manly character. At the age of nine- 
teen he entered St. Joseph's College, at Bardstown, from 
which he carried, in 1833, the devoted love of professors 
and students, and the highest honors of the institution. 
On leaving college he read la.w with the accomplished, 
erudite, and chivalrous Rowan, then in the front rank of 
a bar which could boast a Hardin, a Wickliffe, and a 
Chapeze. From this great jurist and statesman young 
Powell learned to understand, to admire, and to love 
not only the pure teachings of the law, but the great 
fundamental principles of Republican liberty as em- 
bodied in the doctrines of that noble party to which he 
so ably, so faithfully, and so successfully devoted his life. 

In 1835 he attended the Law' Department of Transyl- 
vania University, and soon afterwards began the practice 
of his profession at the county seat of his native county. 
Henderson county was at that time largely opposed to him 
in political sentiment, yet such was the influence of his 
mental and social worth that he was returned to the Leg- 
islature from that county in 1830, during that memorable 
national contest in which Democracy arrayed itself against 
the most powerful combination (that of Bank and State) 
w^hich ever sought to rule a people. 



100 Appendix. 

In 1844, as Elector, he canvassed the State for Polk. 
In 1848 he was the Democratic candidate for Governor 
ao-ainst Mr. Crittenden. His contest with that renowned 
man was marked with energy and ability; and though 
defeated at the election, his canvass was a most substan- 
tial triumph; for he spread broadcast the great truths of 
Jeffersonian Democracy, and reanimated the minds and 
hearts of the people with the recollection of the glorious 
traditions of that party. That policy culminated in the 
formation of the new Constitution. 

In 1851 he again became a candidate for Governor, and 
gathering inspiration from the spirit which had presided 
over the Constitutional Convention, he canvassed and car- 
ried the State against one of the strongest and most gifted 
men that Kentucky has ever produced. His administra- 
tion as Governor is a part of the history of the State. To 
it we can proudly look as an illustration of his political 
wisdom and as a monument of his surpassing statesman- 
ship. 

After his term expired, he was appointed, with Major 
Ben. McCulloch, to adjust our difficulties with the Mor- 
mons, and in this, as in every other public position, he 
discharged the duties of his office with eminent success. 

He was elected Senator in Congress in 1858. His 
career upon that elevated theater was very marked. It 
was the most trying time that has ever fallen upon our 
country. The whole structure of our Government was 
shaken, and the wildest and bitterest passions of our na- 
ture aroused by the terrible civil war then raging. Amid 
the fierce excitement of this dark hour. Governor Powell. 
stood erect and firm. Adhering with death-like tenacity 
to the Constitution of his country, and with no stain on 
his official garments, he pursued, undismayed and unterri- 
fied, that policy which in his honest judgment was best 
calculated to uphold the liberty and preserve the civiliza- 
tion of his countrymen. 



Appendix. 101 

These events are too recent, and the feelings engen- 
dered by them still too fresh in our bosoms, to warrant an 
attempt at a judgment as to their true merits. vVe must 
leave it to time to set these, as all other things, right; and 
in doing this we commit the conduct of Governor Powell 
to that inexorable tribunal, with the fullest contidence 
that reason will place her seal and sanction on it. 

In summing up his character as a public man we are 
struck with the simplicity of his political creed, and with 
the beauty of the few plain rules w^hich governed his 
life. 

Politically he was a Democrat, because he believed the 
doctrines of that party to embody the great truths of 
republican liberty, and its teachings most nearly to con- 
form to the genius of our people. For the Constitution 
he cherished a veneration almost religious, deeming its 
observance the sure and only guarantee of exact justice, 
undisturbed tranquility, a perpetual Union, and well reg- 
ulated liberty. He entertained an unwavering confi- 
dence in the intelligence and integrity of the people, 
and it was a rule of his life never to avow before them 
anything he did not honestly believe, and never to con- 
ceal from them anything that he did believe. He never 
deceived either friend or foe — both always knew where 
to find him. Always a decided partisan, he was con- 
stantly engaged in heated contests with the enemies of 
his party. Yet a true courage and a generous courtesy 
so shed their blended inlluence over all he said and did 
that his adversaries were disarmed of their hostility, and 
his friends were drawn and bound more firmly to him. 
It is a sufficient eulogy of Governor Powell, and one 
that should gratify the highest ambition, that he had no 
enemy to be gratified by his death, whilst the people of 
his State feel it both as a personal bereavement and an 
irreparable public loss. 

Gentle in his strength, modest in his frankness, unob- 
trusive in his honesty, conciliatory yet firm in his sincer- 



102 Appendix. 

ity, Lazakus W. Powell stands forth prominently as one 
of the best models of a republican statesman, of whom it 
may well be said, 

"A rarer spirit never did steer humanity." 

Hitherto I have spoken of the public career of this 
great man. Our admiration of his character increases 
as we view him in the private walks of life. As a friend 
he was kind and true. 

To the young especially he v^^as a most wise and affec- 
tionate friend, ever ready to counsel what was right and 
assist in its achievement. It was his delight to take gen ■ 
erous and aspiring youth by the hand, and to guide its 
footsteps along the pathway of preferment. 

To his parents he was a model of filial piety, at once 
the pride and comfort of their declining years 

For the children left him by the wife of his youth, too 
soon taken from him and them, he cherished the most 
tender affection, and to them alone, for her sake, he 
devoted the love of his manly and magnanimous heart. 

As a member of society he was beloved by all. The 
social virtues reigned in his heart, and social pleasures 
environed his hearthstone. 

In his native county, where death overtook him on the 
3d day of July, 1867, he so lived that all revered and 
loved him ; and when it was known that he was stricken 
by the destroyer, and was, perhaps, in his last struggle, 
the whole community was saddened and hushed as though 
the shadow of death had fallen upon every household; 
and when his death was announced, the common anguish 
was as though the first born of every family had been 
taken. And even yet they feel that there is in their com- 
nuinity less of truth and justice and goodness and manly 
charity than before his sad decease. 



Appendix. 103 



REMARKS OF WM. J. WORTHIXGTON, OP GREENUP. 
Mr. Speaker : It is not my purpose to attempt to deliver 
an eulogy upon the character of the distinguished de- 
ceased to whom the resolutions under consideration refer, 
to the performance of which I freely acknowledge my 
inability. Nor shall I attempt to take up his history as 
a public man, but simply to add my tribute of respect to 
the memory of Mr. Powell as an humble citizen of the 
Commonwealth, that stands ready to-day to do honor to 
the memory of one of her most cherished sons. The 
sable drapings of this Chamber, sir, reminds us of the 
fact that another of Kentucky's honored sons has been 
taken from us by the ruthless hand of death. 

Leaves have their time to fall, 

And flowers to wither at the North Wind's breath, 
And stars to set — -but all, 

Thou hast all seasons for thine own, oh Death! 

It has been the custom, Mr. Speaker, from time imme- 
morial, amongst all civilized nations, to pay a tribute of 
respect to the dead, and more especially to those who 
have been instrumental in conferring benefits upon their 
fellow-men. This, sir, is the duty that we are called 
upon to-day to perform — sad, yet pleasant. Death, sir, 
whether it is visited upon us in youth, in the vigor of 
manhood, or in the full fruition of years, is, nevertheless, 
accompanied with an inseparable gloom, which all of 
our philosophy cannot overcome. The stoicism of the 
ancients is no part of our inheritance ; but, sir, we are 
here to-day, in the full possession of our natui-al sympg- 
thies, to mourn the loss of departed worth. We come 
not, sir, for the purpose of investigating the conduct of 
our departed statesman, and determine whether or not 
his name is entitled to be enrolled in the archives of the 
State as one of the good and great. This, sir, has already 
been done; every page of the history of our State for 



104 Appendix. 

the last thirty years bears the impress of his genius. His 
life, sir, was dedicated to the service of his country, 
not bounded by geographical lines or sectional divisions. 
His, sir, was a devotion commensurate and co-extensive 
w^th the vast domain which embraces the sisterhood of 
States which form our glorious Republic. Born to the 
inheritance of Republican and Democratic principles, 
their culture, dissemination, and perpetuation became 
the chief object of his noble and useful life. As to the 
measure of his success in his laudable work, we have 
only to refer to the proud Commonwealth during the 
time of his almost unexampled administration of public 
affairs for the attestation of the success which attended 
his labors as a statesman. Entering the political arena 
at a time w^hen his party was in the minority and op- 
posed by the ablest men of the age, such as Crittenden, 
Dixon, Wolfe, and Morehead, seconded by the influence 
of the great Commoner then in the nation's councils, 
whose political opinions were received as oracles, and 
under whose influence and guidance the Whigs had had 
control in the State for upward of twenty years — sur- 
rounded by difficulties of this character, the road to polit- 
ical preferment was uninviting, to say the least of it. 
But his, sir, was not the nature to be intimidated by the 
obstacles that loomed up before him. Girding himself 
for the contest, he entered the list as the champion of 
Democracy. Nerved to the conflict by a laudable and 
praiseworthy ambition, coupled with a zeal that knew 
not defeat, he pressed forward to the goal of success, 
and, by his indomitable perseverance, changed the polit- 
ical complexion of the State for the first time in twenty 
years. Though strictly partisan in his feelings, he pos- 
sessed in an unequaled degree that rare but invaluable 
power of binding his friends with bonds that could not 
be broken, and, at the same time, conciliating his oppo- 
nents and thereby relieving his contests from the asper- 



Appendix. 105 

ities that are usually engendered by political discussions. 
Kind, aflable, and obligins,- in his manners — to know 
him was to love him. The aristocrat and the plebeian 
received the same cordial greeting at his threshold — none 
was turned away empty. His great heart was ever open 
to the plea of the poor and the unfortunate. His love 
and devotion for his own native Kentucky knew no 
bounds — her destiny was his. In her prosperity he re- 
joiced ; in her adversity he mourned. Hence his solici- 
tude for the State that he loved when the clouds of war 
were gathering thick and fast around her. Gladly would 
he have thrust himself into the breach and arrested the 
impending shock. The ties that had bound us together 
as one common family were in danger of being torn 
asunder. He hesitated — not that he loved the nation 
less, but Kentucky more. If in this there is error, Mr. 
Speaker, let us kindly cast over it the mantle of charity, 
and accord to our distinguished statesman the ruling 
motive of his life, namely, to do right in the sight of 
his God and his countrymen in all things. It is said, 
Mr. Speaker, that the good men do, is oft interred with 
their bones. Let it not be so with our distinguished and 
beloved countrymen; but let his many and exalted vir- 
tues be engraven upon our hearts as they are indelibly 
in the history of his country ; as in life, so in death will 
his example stand out as a beacon light to encourage the 
youth of the land to press forward in the path of useful- 
ness and honor. 

But, sir, whilst we are here to-day to render this tribute 
to his memory, let us not forget that our loss is his gain, 
and that sooner or later we will all have to pass to that 
bourne from which no traveler returns. The contempla- 
tion of these things, sir, should enable us to bear with 
Christian fortitude the dispensations of an all-wise Prov- 
idence, who does all things for the best. Let us for the 
time being lay aside our difierences of opinion, and, as 



106 Appendix. 

one common brotherhood, meet at the shrine of our 
country and offer this tribute of respect to the memory 
of one whose fame has become the common inheritance 
of Kentuckians, and remember that 

"The gloomiest day hath its gleams of light, 
The darkest wave hath bright foam near it, 

And twinkles through doudiest night 
Some solitary st^ar to cheer it." 



REMARKS OF BEX. J. WEBB, OF LOUISVILLE. 

Mr. Speaker : The name of Lazarus W. Powell has 
been familiar to me since we were boys together attend- 
ing the same school. He was a leader from the time I 
first knew him up to the da}' of his death. He led in 
his classes at school and he led in the sports and pas- 
times that occupied, for himself and his fellow-students, 
the hours of recreation. He took the lead in forming 
for himself a distinctive character, and he took it also 
in the assertion and defense of distinctive principles. 
Open, manly, and generous by nature, he used his extra- 
ordinary gifts for the support of the w^eak, to curb license, 
and to incite emulation. Enemies he had none, for his 
motives, in whatever he did or said, shone forth transpa- 
rent with candor and with good will toward all. 

At the time of which I speak, from my place among 
the college juniors (he was two years my senior), I 
remember well to have been in the habit of looking up 
to the person of the future Governor of the Common- 
wealth with a feeling that was somewhat akin to envy, 
on account, as well of his manly bearing, as of his 
wonderful influence over the entire body of his fellow- 
students. Though he was himself a laborious student, and 
was always well up in his classes, he was no mere book- 
worm. He gave to both body and mind that relaxation 



Appendix. 107 

from toil which was necessary for their healthy develop- 
ment. Thus early in life did Lazarus W. Powell give 
evidence of his future greatness — of his ability to reach 
the goal of a just man's ambition. I left college long 
before Mr. Powell's graduation in 1833, and had, un- 
fortunately, few opportunities afterwards of renewing 
the relations of our early days. But neA^er, up to the 
day of his death, had I ceased to feel the warmest inter- 
est in every thing that concerned him as a man, or that 
had reference to his fame as a political leader among 
the people. He became identified in my mind as some- 
thing in which 1 had a part. I gloried in his successes 
and I shared the humiliation of his defeats. 

I shall not pretend to follow him in his public career. 
His political history, and that of the times in which he 
acted, are familiar to all of you. But it has been said 
of me, as it has been said of thousands of better men, 
that I " must be either practical or nothing." In proof 
of this, and at the risk, possibly, of offending against 
good taste, I cannot permit this occasion to pass without 
attempting to apply, in a practical way, the lessons of 
his life for the benefit of those who are seeking a like 
path with that trod by the lamented dead, whose memory 
we would keep alive in the hearts of his countrymen. 
What were the means used by Governor, Powell to ar- 
rive at distinction in the councils of the nation? And 
how did he succeed in winning the love and confidence 
of his fellow-citizens? He was, it is very true, a man 
of genius, but there have been geniuses that we all have 
known, that received not, as they did not deserve to 
receive, either private respect or public confidence. 
They lacked the ballast of steady habits, of industry, of 
unselfish and patriotic pui'pose, of unswerving integrity, 
of modest candor and fidelity to principle. These were 
Governor Powell's distinguishing characteristics, and it 
was through their possession that he became what he 



108 Appendix. 

was. Both in public and private life he gave assurance 
to all that he was simply and wholly a man, earnest in 
vindicating the right and fearless in condemning the 
wrong. He was no creature of impulse or passion, but 
he had regard, in his every public act, for those amenities 
of social life which forbid the introduction of irritating 
personalities into political controversy, and which are so 
characteristic of the true gentleman. He enforced the 
respect of his political foes as much by his courtesy as by 
his ability to defend his positions through the medium of 
unanswerable logic. He did not reach the position to 
which his talents and his exalted moral attributes enabled 
him to aspire without labor. He accepted this universal 
law of progress, and he bent all his energies to the ac- 
quirement of that sum of knowledge which is indis- 
pensable to success in every profession, and in eveiy 
undertaking that is worthy of human effort. He culti- 
vated his will, or his moral affections, together with his 
intellect, for he well knew that man's happiness here on 
earth is as the measure of his good deeds; that he owes 
to his neighbor not only justice but sympathy, and not 
only sympathy, but also practical aid in his troubles and 
miseries. He studied his country's history and the lives 
of her patriotic founders, in order that he might labor 
to subserve the true interests of the former, by founding 
himself in the principles of the latter. Finally, he lived 
to illustrate his love of country and the Democratic prin- 
ciples which he had inherited from the fathers of the 
Republic, on fields where, with the great body of the 
combatants engaged, reason was thrown to the winds, 
and where, aided by a few kindred spirits, he was to the 
last found battling for the right, and urging upon all 
counsels of moderation, in words whose echoes will only 
cease to ring in the ears of his countrymen when liberty 
shall have lost its meaning in their hearts. 

The most glorious act in the public life of Governor 
Powell was his defense of his colleague in the Senate of 



Appendix. 109 

the United States fi'om the charge of constructive ti-ea- 
son — a cliarge which involved expulsion from that body. 
It will be remembered that, early in the history of the 
late civil war, the Hon. Garrett Davis, in his zeal for the 
preservation of the Union b}' making treason odious, as 
the phrase still runs, had his colleague, Governor Powell, 
arraigned at the bar of the Senate on the charge of dis- 
loyalty. The charge was not sustained. At a later day, 
Senator Davis, having arrived at more just conclusions as 
to the purposes of the men in power, discarded the here- 
sies of the party with which he had up to that time acted, 
and, on account of his change of views, was placed at 
the bar of the Senate to answer a charge similar to 
that which he had himself previously preferred against 
Gov. Powell. What was our late Governor's action in 
the premises ? Did he take advantage of his position to 
strike at the man who had before caused his own arraign- 
ment? Not at all; but with an eye single to principle, 
and wdth a zeal commensurate with the occasion, he 
entered the lists beside his former enemy, and manfully 
defended him on the floor of the Senate. I call this a 
glorious record — one that combines within its scope the 
love of truth for its own sake, and superiority to personal 
resentment on account of personal injury. 

Truly, I know of no example more worthy of the imi- 
tation of the rising statesmen of our Commonwealth 
than that afforded them in the public life of Lazarl^s W. 
Powell. As it is on the basis of public virtue alone that 
we can hope to preserve the institutions of our fathers, 
so the student of statesmanship that \^'ould make him- 
self worthy of the office of guardian over the liber- 
ties of the people, should prune his mind of all mere 
selfish aspirations, of party and personal spites, and arise 
to that height of patriotic devotion which looks beyond, 
self to the welfare of the country and to the happiness 
of the people. 



REMARKS OF REPRESENTATIVES 



REMARKS OF EX-GOVERNOR BERIAH MAGOFFIN. 
Mr. Speaker : Wearied and worn down, as I know we 
all are, by the arduous labors of a three-months' session of 
the Legislature, I would not say a word, under ordinary 
circumstances, upon the resolutions just read; but I hope 
I shall be pardoned by the House for asking its indulgence 
to drop a flower and a tear upon the grave of my depart- 
ed friend. N^eitlier my feelings nor my duty will permit 
me to remain silent. My relations with the late Lazarus 
W. Powell, in every regard, from my boyhood to the end 
of his life, were such as to forbid that, upon such an oc- 
casion as this, I should not bear willing testimony to his 
great worth while living. 1 know, sir, that no word of 
mine can add anything to the fame of the distinguished 
and departed statesman ; I know that no praise, no eulogy 
that I could pronounce, will add one leaf to the evergreen 
laurel which he has twined around his brow by his many 
and noble services to his country ; I know that no poor 
tribute that 1 can now pay to his sacred memory will 
brighten the halo which now surrounds his consecrated 
and immortal tomb; but it is meet for us to show a just 
appreciation of his great eflbrts for the good of his coun- 
try, and to bear witness to the spotless purity of his pri- 
vate and public life. All enlightened people have been 
prompt to perpetuate the fame of their great and good 
men. All civilized nations know that their history is the 
sum of their glorious deeds, and it is well to inspire the 
ambitious and hopeful living to follow their example, by 
living just, generous, and grateful to the patriotic and 
illustrious dead. 



Appendix. Ill 

Governor Powell's active, laborious, and useful life is 
now the common property of the State and of the whole 
country. He has bequeathed to us some of the brightest 
pages in our history. We should show that we appreci- 
ate the noble legacy by imitating his example. 

In all the social relations of life none knew him but to 
love him, few spoke of him but to praise. Kind, courte- 
ous, and frank in his winning manners, he was as genial 
as a bright May morning. His heart, his hand, and his 
purse were never closed to charities, and always open to 
his friends. Courteous, prudent, just, generous, brave, 
and magnanimous, he had the qualities that made him 
the very soul of honor. Truthfulness, honesty, frankness, 
and wisdom marked all his dealings with his fellow-men, 
and were, in fact, the most conspicuous traits in his thor- 
oughly balanced character. In the nearer and more en- 
dearing relations of life — as a son, he was dutiful; as a 
husband, he was indulgent, tender, and afiectionate ; as a 
father, playful, kind, and gentle, almost as a loving, doat- 
ing mother. 

I knew him intimately well, for a long time, in all the 
relations of life, and it did seem to me that all the quali- 
ties which make up the highest type of a man were most 
harmoniously blended in him. As a business man, he was 
thoroughly honest, just, and prompt. As a lawyer, he had 
few superiors in the State ; and no one was more respect- 
ed, where he practiced, by the bench, the juries, or the bar. 
As a Representative in the Legislature, in early life, from 
the county of Henderson, he was ever vigilant, industri- 
ous, and attentive to the interests of his constituents. As 
a candidate for office and a public speaker, he was always 
popular with the people and pleasing on the stump. As 
Governor of Kentucky, no man ever discharged his duties 
with greater satisfaction to the whole people of the State. 
Firm in the execution of the laws, his ears were ever open 
to the tender and touching appeals of mercy ; but, sir, it 



112 Appendix. 

was not until he was elected to the Senate of the United 
States that extraordinary circumstances displayed, in the 
highest degree, that power of intellect, patriotism, firm- 
ness, and great courage, that endeared him so much to the 
people. 

Who, let me ask, ever served the people of this State 
with greater fidelity, under more trying circumstances ? 
During the late horrid and never-to-be-forgotten war, in 
the darkest days of the bloody conflict, when passion 
ruled the hour, and bold men stood aghast — when the 
laws were silent, and military necessity was made the 
plea for every infraction of the Constitution and for every 
outrage which was perpetrated upon the rights of the 
States and the people — unseduced by flattery, unmoved 
by threats, and unawed by power, he boldly stood up on 
the Senate floor, almost alone, and defended with great 
ability every right dear to freemen and every principle of 
constitutional liberty. He won from his political oppo- 
nents, by his honest and manly course, their admiration 
and respect, even in that fearful hour. I wish not to claim 
for him more than he deserves ; but who, among our great 
statesmen, is deserving more of the gratitude of the peo- 
ple? We have had men of more genius — greater orators, 
scholars, and statesmen in Kentucky ; but where was 
there ever a purer or a nobler patriot, or one who was a 
truer representative of the people of his native State? I 
claim not that he was a brilliant man, nor a man of 
genius, nor a finished scholar, in the highest sense of the 
word, nor a man greatly learned in the sciences, nor a 
man of very extraordinary or profound information. No 
one will claim that he was, as an orator, the equal of Mr. 
Clay or Judge Rowan or Mr. Barry, of Judge Hise or 
Mr. Crittenden. He had not some of the commanding 
traits in the characters of the lamented Boyd, the gallant 
Clarke, or the gifted, dashing, and chivalrous O'Hara, 



Appendix. 113 

the remains of the last two of whom now sleep in a for- 
eign land — 

"Dante sleeps afar, 
Like Scipio buried hy the upbraiding shore;" 

but whose sacred dust will soon be reclaimed by a grate- 
ful people, and brought back to mingle with their native 
soil. Unlike any of the persons alluded to in many par- 
ticulars, he was emphatically an honest man of the 
strongest common sense, whose judgment seldom erred 
about men or measures. In solid judgment, in unswerv- 
ing will, in firmness and fixedness of purpose, in devotion 
to principle, in understanding the wants and wishes of 
his constituents, and in the display of the highest moral 
and physical courage in acting for what he considered 
to be for their greatest good, their greatest prosperity 
and happiness, he was not inferior to the noblest Roman 
of them all. He was not less faithful in the discharge of 
his duties than any of them. 

In my intercourse with public men, there was one 
thing most remarkable about the man. From the collis- 
ions which necessarily take place among politicians and 
statesmen, and others, perhaps, struggling for wealth, 
for place, position, and power, great antipathies and 
very bitter animosities are almost universally engendered, 
and from disappointment or some other cause they speak 
with great bitterness of each other, especially after the}'" 
pass the meridian of life, and to its close. It was not so 
with Governor Powell. He seemed to have no unkind 
feeling toward any human being, always speaking charit- 
ably and respectfully of his political opponents or friends, 
even after they had done him injustice. When any 
wrong was acknowledged and atoned for, no man was 
more magnanimous, more free to forgive. When sufficient 
apologies were offered for injuries, they were remembered 
no more. A Kentuckian by birth and education, he shed 
8 



114 Appendix. 

lustre upon every position, both public and private, he 
filled. Elected to fill the most exalted positions within 
our gift, he came up to the full measure of our highest 
expectations. The fame of some of our great men may 
be perpetuated in the marble column that towers to the 
skies, or in brass that dazzles in the sunlight— on the 
living canvass— in undying painting, story, and song, 
they may live as they deserve, but none of them will 
have, or deserve to have, a warmer place in the hearts 
of all true Kentuckians, or in the affections of his coun- 
trymen, than the late Lazarus W. Powell. Cut down 
by the fell Destroyer, who is no respecter of persons, 
but who, cum equo pede, knocks at the door alike of the 
rich and the poor, the high and the low, and will take 
no denial, he went down into the grave in the prime of 
life and the fullness of his usefulness, without a stain 
upon his name, without a breath of suspicion upon his 
character. He passed into the unknown future like the 
sun as it sinks in a clear sky without a shadow on its 
disc. Honored, trusted, beloved by the people, he died 
full of honors ; but, alas ! I fear too soon for the good of 
his country ! He sunk to rest 

"By all his country's wishes blest." 

And he will be gratefully and affectionately remembered 
as long as truth, sincerity, friendship, talent, fidelity, gen- 
erosity, magnanimity, justice, patriotism, and honor are 
duly appreciated among men. Surely, if the spirits of 
the just while on earth are made perfect in Heaven, he 
has his reward. 



Appendix. 115 



REMARKS OF R. M. SPALDING, OF MARTON. 

Mr. Speaker : I arise to second the resolutions oflered 
by the Committee, and in doing so desire to make a few 
remarks upon the character and services of the distin- 
guished statesman who is the subject of them. The 
State of Kentucky has ever manifested a proper respect 
and veneration for the memory of her great men. She 
loves to nurture and encourage the aspirations of genius 
and talent employed in promoting the welfare and happi- 
ness of her people, in defending their rights and advanc- 
ing their interests. After death, she generously erects 
over the remains of these suitable monuments, and with 
maternal tenderness wreathes them with the bright gar- 
land of her public approbation. This sentiment has 
caused the present Legislature to pass resolutions to 
remove the remains of two distinguished Kentuckians to 
our State cemetery — one who had died in a foreign State 
while employed in the service of the country, the other 
a man of genius and misfortune, whose short but brilliant 
and checkered career was closed by death in a neighbor- 
ing State. Resolutions to honor the memory of the late 
lamented Gov. Helm have been passed by this House, a 
patriot whose name and fame will ever live green and 
fresh in the hearts and affections of all true Kentuckians. 

But among the names of the public men of our State, 
that of Lazarus W. Powell will ever find a proaninent 
place. Born and reared in our State, where he received 
his education, he early cultivated and ever retained the 
generous impulses and honest frankness of a true Ken- 
tuck i an. 

The pursuit of knowledge threw us both together in 
our youth, and I shall ever cherish a pleasing recollection 
of the years which 1 thus spent with him. In those days 
— from 1829 to 1833 — -there was no boy in Kentucky who 



116 Appendix. 

did not talk politics and have his own political opinions. 
Powell and myself at that time differed on this subject. 
I was a -Clay Whig, whilst he was even then the most 
staunch and consistent advocate of Jeffersonian Democ- 
racy. 

He was bold and fearless in his opinions, and gave 
evidence of deep thinking upon the great principles of 
republican liberty, as contained in our mixed form of 
government. He was a Democrat, not from impulse, but 
from principle. He had accepted that doctrine from 
conviction ; had made it his political faith ; and even as 
a boy he evinced a resolution to remain faithful to it in 
good report and in evil report — in the bright day of 
victory and in the dark hour of defeat. While a student 
at college he applied himself assiduously to the pursuit 
of knowledge, and by his progress in science gave evi- 
dence of more than ordinary talent. He graduated with 
honor to himself and the institution in 1833. 

On leaving St. Joseph's College he began the study 
of law in the office of Judge Rowan, of Bardstown. 
Bardstown at that time was called the Athens of Ken- 
tucky, and certainly it then possessed some of Kentucky's 
greatest men. Ben. Hardin was there. In original 
genius and natural reach of intellect, in perspicuity of 
thought and power of analysis, in wit, in bitter and 
withering sarcasm and invective, no man in the State 
was his superior. Charles A. Wickliffe, who still lives, 
almost the only survivor of a race of great men, distin- 
guished at the bar and in the councils of the nation, 
was also there. Judge Rowan, the able statesman and 
profound jurist, the accomplished gentleman and the 
erudite scholar, who was unequaled in conversational 
power and natural flow of eloquence, was also there. 
Ben. Chapeze, the peer of these, and a lawyer of distin- 
guished ability, and John Hays, a prodigy of genius and 
eloquence, were likewise there. 



Appendix. 117 

Many young men of talent and ambition had gathered 
around these great names. 

The lamented Governor Helm was studying there, and 
there also Lazarus W. Powell began the study of the 
law in 1832. 

Governor Powell was blessed with a warm and ardent 
nature, and when he resolved upon a thing he concen- 
trated in it his heart and soul. He prosecuted the study 
of the law assiduously, knowing that labor is the only 
key to success, the only passport to distinction and honor. 
In his hours of social relaxation he was always gay and 
cheerful, and a most excellent companion ; yet the atten- 
tive observer could easily perceive that his heart was 
bent on labor and progress, not on pleasure. After hav- 
ing passed through the usual course of study, he was 
admitted to the bar in 1835. 

As a lawyer, Governor Powell will never be classed 
among the great jurists of the nation. Nevertheless, 
during his life-time he held a high position at the bar. 
Early in life he entered the arena of politics, and it is as 
a statesman that he especially distinguished himself. 

He passed through all the grades of political prefer- 
ment, and reached the highest office in the gift of the 
people of Kentucky — that of Governor of his native 
State. I do not think that any of the many distin- 
guished incumbents who have filled the gubernatorial 
chair of Kentucky ever left the office with greater pop- 
ularity than Governor Powell. In the legislative halls 
of the nation he stood prominent among the statesmen 
of the country, who, in whatever light they may have 
regarded his political views, never failed to esteem and 
ad(nire the sterling worth and incorruptible honesty of 
the man. 

In 1861, when party spirit M^as at its height, intensified 
by sectional hate and fanaticism, when the great princi- 
ples of State rights and restricted Federal sovereigntv, as 



118 Appendix. 

laid down in the Constitution, and illustrated by the prac- 
tice and teaching of the fathers of the Republic, were 
involved, and in imminent danger of overthrow, Governor 
Powell, then a Senator in Congress from Kentucky, stood 
firm and unshaken to the traditions of the Democratic 
faith. He invoked the spirit of peace and compromise 
upon the troubled waters of party strife. He urged, with 
patriotic ardor, the adoption of measures w^iich would 
harmonize sectional interests and the war of sectional 
animosity, and save the vital principles of liberty to the 
people. He labored long and ardently to compromise 
conflicting policies and to avert the impending storm of 
war from his country. He early, and then clearly, saw 
the aims and purposes of the revolutionary party which 
then held in their hands the destiny of the country. He 
opposed persistently every attempt they made at usurpa- 
tion of power, whether urged under the plea of State or 
military necessity. He contended that the life of the Gov- 
ernment depended upon adhering to the principles and 
spirit of the organic law. At that time — the most trying 
period of his public life — he was denounced everywhere 
as disloyal to the Government; he' was abandoned by his 
own State, and declared unfit to represent its people in 
the councils of the nation. A resolution of expulsion 
from the Senate was introduced into that body. Powell 
felt and knew the importance of the occasion — the truth 
of the political faith of his life was on trial — and he was 
nerved with the energy and strength of the patriot to meet 
with defiance the unjust charges. 

In a speech — the most elaborate, logical, and eloquent 
of his life — he conclusively vindicated the truth and loy- 
alty of his public acts, the consistency and constitution- 
ality of his opposition to the war, and he overwhelmed 
with defeat his enemies and the enemies of his country's 
liberty. This was, perhaps, the most glorious of his life ; 
it gave him a national reputation, and endeared his name 
to the friends of constitutional freedom over all this land. 



Appendix. 119 

Consistency is very rarely found in the political lives of 
the public men of our day and country. Politics and 
policy are too often confounded. Principle is sacrificed 
to interest, lasting honor to the vulgar success of the pass- 
ing hour. In our day, especially, we find few statesmen 
of stern convictions and unshaken integrity — few men 
who seem to consider the general weal of the nation 
rather than the petty interests of party — few men who 
seem willing to love their country's permanent good, even 
though that love bring upon them unpopularity for the 
time, and the odium of party and of faction. 

The men who framed our Constitution, and who gave 
to the country the blessings of free institutions, were not 
of this character. They were unselfish and self-sacrific- 
ing in advancing the public good. The same patriotic 
devotion, and the same honesty of purpose have distin- 
guished the men who were intrusted Math the administra- 
tion of the Government from the days of Washington 
down to 1861. These men maintained that instrument as 
the paramount law of the land, to which every citizen 
owed obedience and fidelity. Oaths to support the Con- 
stitution in these palmy days of the Republic were re- 
spected by all classes of officials. This character of 
statesmen must be again placed in power if the people 
desire to perpetuate for themselves and their posterity the 
inheritance of free government, and save the country 
from tyrants and despots. 

Such a man was Lazarus W. Powell, and his death was 
not only a loss to his friends and to his State, but a loss 
also to the nation. 

In person, he was a man of fine appearance, above 
medium height, and of full habit. His high and ample 
forehead gave evidence of the noble and exalted ideas 
which guided him in all his actions. His expressive blue 
eye told of restless activity, of lofty aspirations, and of a 
generous, kindly heart. In his personal friendships and 



120 Appendix. 

attachments he was warm and sincere. He loved to re- 
tire from the eager strife of political life to the genial and 
more peaceable enjoyments of social friendship. 

As a man, as a statesman, and as a patriot, he Mas an 
honor to his native State, and the people of Kentucky 
will ever hold his name in veneration. 



REMARKS OF MR. LILLARD, OF OWEN. 

I will not trespass upon the time or patience of the 
House by any extended remarks on the life, character, 
and distinguished services of Gov. Powell, whose un- 
timely death we all mourn. 

All that could be said on this melancholy occasion has 
been well and eloquently said by the distinguished gen- 
tlemen who have preceded me. But, sir, I cannot remain 
utterly silent. I feel that I must say something as a slight 
tribute of respect to one who in life I loved and whose 
memory I hold sacred and dear. 

I had been from early manhood an admirer of Governor 
Powell, not alone for his intellectual worth, but for his 
virtues, his goodness of disposition, and kindness of heart. 

His noble, generous, unselfish nature gained for him 
the admiration of all with whom he came in contact. 
No man within the State of Kentucky had as strong a 
hold on the affections of the people as he, save Kentucky's 
illustrious exiled statesman, Mr. BRECKiNRmaE ; and when 
the unexpected intelligence was heralded throughout the 
Commonwealth that Lazarus Powell was no more ; that 
he had passed from this earthly stage on which he had 
acted so prominent and useful a part to that " bourn 
from whence no traveler returns," every patriot's heart 
was filled with gloom and sadness. 

He had in every position in life to which he had been 
elevated by the voice of his countrymen, whether as leg- 



Appendix. 121 

islator in the councils of the State, as Chief Executive of 
the Commonwealth, or as her representative in the Sen- 
ate Chamber of the United States, ably and fearlessly 
discharged his duty and faithfully performed the duty 
confided to him. 

As a lawyer, he had attained a high and eminent posi- 
tion at the bar ; as a statesman, he had few equals and no 
superiors ; as a politician, he was firm, unwavering, and 
incorruptible, and as a private citizen, his character was 
as pure and spotless as the untrodden snow. 

During the Senatorial contest last winter, I, as one of 
his friends, had a favorable opportunity of learning the 
true nature of the man. We had been balloting unsuc- 
cessfully for weeks, and it was evident that we could not 
secure votes sufficient to elect him ; but some of us were 
averse to withdrawing his name, preferring to leave the 
responsibility of the election of United States Senator to 
the present Legislature. 

In this condition of affairs Gov. Powell urged the 
withdrawal of his name, remarking that he was satisfied, 
from the formidable opposition waged against him, that 
his election could not be secured, and that, owing to the 
proposed impeachment of the President of the United 
States by Congress, for the discharge of his sworn duty 
to protect and defend the Constitution of the country, 
he deemed the election of a Senator then a necessity. 
His name was of course withdrawn, and the result the 
House is familiar with. 

Mr. Speaker, Gov. Powell was ardently attached to 
the State of his birth and to the section of country in 
which he lived ; but his patriotism was bounded by no 
contracted limits ; it embraced the whole country, from 
the lake shore to the Mexican Gulf, from the Pacific to 
the waters of the Atlantic. 

In every position he assumed he was actuated by 
patriotic impulses. 



122 Appendix. 

In the early part of 1861, when the dark clouds of 
civil strife were just beginning to cast their gloomy 
shadows over the land, his eloquent voice and masterly 
statesmanship were brought to bear to avert the threat- 
ened storm and prevent the carnival of blood which 
succeeded it ; but his warning and advice were un- 
heeded ; fanaticism ruled the hour, and the country was 
plunged into the dark vortex of civil war, which resulted 
in the destruction of Republican Government and the 
establishment of a military despotism in eleven States 
of this Union. 

Sir, I indorse every sentiment embodied in these reso- 
lutions, and will vote for the appropriation proposed to 
erect a monument to Powell; but it requires no marble 
shaft to perpetuate the memory of such a man — he will 
live forever in history and in the hearts of Kentuckians, 
and in the hearts of lovers of Republican Government 
and civil liberty everywhere. 



REMARKS OF MR. ROBERT T. GLASS. 

The Representative from Henderson county (Mr. Robt. 
T. Glass) having been called home, the following re- 
marks of his were read from manuscript by the Clerk of 
the House : 

As it is my fortune to represent that constituency by 
whom the honored dead was so cherished, and from 
whom is taken 'not only the statesman whose fame is 
co-extensive with the country and whose services are a 
part of its valued history, but also the public-spirited 
citizen, the beloved friend, the sympathizing neighbor, 
and generous benefactor — as I represent that bereaved 
people among whom Governor Powell was born and 
lived and gave up his life, it is proper, perhaps, I should 
say something on this occasion for them and in their 



Appendix. 123 

name of their sense of the great loss the country and 
State has sustained in his death, and their appreciation 
of his many and eminent virtues. 

You, gentlemen, have seen one of the pillars from the 
temple that supports the national arch of the unity of the 
States rent from its base, and prone headlong on the alien 
ground ; but over us it is the roof-tree of our home has 
fallen. You miss the profound student of political his- 
tory and the skilled controller of political events, and 
are appalled that one so able and useful stands dumb in 
the presence of the great master and teacher. Death. We 
are bowed in sorrow that the patient friend and coun- 
selor of our daily lives, by a higher election, has entered 
into a diviner council than any earthly assembly, leaving 
us no discipline but the unutterable pathos and instruc- 
tion of his pure example. It is proper that a constitu- 
ency so nearly atilicted should seek an expression of its 
pervading sorrow as dumb but eloquent nature, in unsyl- 
labled measure, strikes deep the common chord of grief, 
and that I, perhaps, should be the instrument — imperfect 
and tuneless, it may be — to respond to the touched and 
trembling keys of a people's lamentation. 

If, from the remarks wdiich fall from the lips of speakers 
to-day, and your knowledge of the universal sorrow which 
pervades the State, you can judge the magnitude of the 
common deprivation, let your own full hearts recognize 
and appreciate our peculiar unlanguaged grief. 

As the time fixed for the offering of these resolutions 
drew near, I cheerfully acceded to a delay that gave an 
opportunity to the once coadjutors of the illustrious dead 
to bring their worth}' and graceful offerings to this social 
shrine. So delaying, that more honor be done to the 
memory of him whom in life " all delighted to honor," 
the earnest call of duties at my home leaves me no other 
means of expression than this written rendering of a wail 
of mourning. In the wreath of immortelles now made 



124 Appendix. 

by loving hands to grace his political fame and perpet- 
uate its memory, let these dark leaves of neighborhood 
regret and personal sorrow be wrought into a back- 
ground to bring into more prominent relief the nobility 
of his life and the virtues of his private character. 

Lazarus W. Powell was born in Henderson county, 
Kentucky, and nurtured in the generous traits and im- 
pulses which are the birthright of the people of his 
native State. Adopting the law as his profession, his 
legal training became the pathway to a position of polit- 
ical eminence in the ranks of a generous Democracy. 
Trusted and admired by the people of his county, he 
was, in early life, elected to the State Legislature, and 
in that wider field made known his talents and worth to 
the people of the State. Honored for his talents, and 
respected for his character, a few years later, the dis- 
criminating judgment of his party chose him from a 
noble list of rivals, the Agamemnon, beseiging a political 
and hitherto invincible Troy of Kentucky, to lead their 
forces in the gubernatorial contest of 1848, A Hector 
in all that constitutes genius and chivalry headed the 
resisting battalions in the person of the brilliant, high- 
hearted Crittenden, called home from clustering honors 
at Washington to rescue the declining fortunes of his 
party, wounded deeply in the neglect of Mr. Clay. In a 
canvass exceedingly arduous, Mr. Powell met the accom- 
plished athlete, practiced in the giant arena of the Fed- 
eral Senate of that day, and everywhere was shown the 
elastic muscle and steely tendon of this David from the 
brooks and fields. Comparatively unknown, and jeered 
at by the opposition press as one dragged from obscurity 
only to be ofl^ered up on the alter of a necessary party 
organization, he responded to the marching cry of " Laz- 
arus, come forth!" and stood a defiant champion and 
brave defender of popular rights and State integrity. A 
new Lazarus had arisen, indeed, around whose advocacy 



Appendix. 125 

of the true theory of ji^overnmental affairs lived an elder 
faith, now for the first time for years renewed and re- 
vivified in Democratic sentiment; and beneath him the 
seared and unfruitful abstractions of a mistaken creed 
broke and shivered into dust. It compelled all his rival's 
surpassing eloquence, the power of the prestige of his 
unsullied reputation, and the strong sympathies of a past 
of unbroken victory, to resist the desperate energy of this 
unheralded reformer, tearing to pieces with relentless 
hand plausible sophistries and extinct precedents. He 
stamped the serpent of prejudice in its native mud, and 
throttled the old lion of Federal power in his chosen 
cave, until, step by step, forced through the rugged un- 
dergrowth of old habit and custom, he brought his ad- 
versary back to the common birth-place of a people's 
freedom — the true sovereignty of confederated States, 
He lost at last, but wrested victory from defeat, for 
Powell, vanquished, stood on a field victorious. The 
traces of that mighty struggle remained ineradicable and 
potent in their influence upon the political issues of the 
next four years. And now, when the prize for which 
these intellectual athletes contended again glittered be- 
fore the eyes of party leaders ; when the period foi- a 
second struggle came, who so fit as he to champion 
the confident hosts of Democracy? The Democracy of 
Kentucky, now no longer divided by the claims of rival 
aspirants for political leadership, set its all upon the 
vigorous nerve and unfiinching courage of this green- 
wood and Green River trained rustic, fresh from the 
buxom air and healthy embrace of independent popular 
life. Again, as before, the noble Whig party, strained to 
the utmost by the hardy fight, and warned beforehand 
of the pith and marrow of this vigorous rival, chose their 
most illustrious victor in many a scarred arena, in the 
person of Hon. Archie Dixon. But the struggle was no 
longer equal. The Whig party was like a stately man- 



126 Appendix. 

hood, healthy and kindly, whose youth had been inaugu- 
rated with the robust juices and strong sinews of a 
nervous life, and still stood erect, a symbol of athletic 
vigor. Yet it was but a symbol. Age had sapped the 
secret sources of its strength, robbed its blood of the iron, 
and bones of healthy lime, and no more was the name 
of the Great Commoner an ever-renewing wine of life 
to it, and vain the efforts of its gallant leader to restore 
to it its pristine strength and spirit. Against this young 
Orson from the woods, with every nerve and muscle 
full of life — the embodiment and exponent of that pure 
Democracy, which, born in the country and nurtured in 
the hearts of a patriotic yeomanry, sought only the great- 
est good to the greatest number by a strict conformity to 
the Constitution and laws, by protection to property and 
industry, and by its advocacy of the doctrine of State 
rights as taught by the fathers of the country — the splen- 
did externals of a show of strength were as nothing. 
None could have fought braver, or as well, or put in 
play the moral and physical energies, and even the petty 
nerves and arteries of Whiggery, as vigorously as did 
Dixon, this mental master of its being; but it fell, and 
Powell stood over it master of the field, and master of a 
gallant force in the Whig party — that party that had 
fallen, alas ! to rise no more. 

It is not my purpose to touch upon what will be so 
jnuch better done by others of your number — the political 
life and services ot Gov. Powell. As a Representative 
in this body, as Governor of the State, as United States 
Senator, and as Commissioner to pacify the Utah troubles, 
rising into threatened war in the dim obscurity of the 
Rocky Mountains, he proved himself courageous, able, 
and patriotic, knowing no master but duty, and cheerfully 
obeying its behests. 

On all these he left the impressible elements of his 
character and the enduring marks of his fame, and no 



Appendix, 127 

wave of popular opinion or prejudice, however constant 
or violent, can wear them from the face of the rock on 
which public events are inscribed. Others, by age and 
association better fitted to interpret these scrolls, may ex- 
plain and elucidate from them the strong, earnest life of 
this great-hearted, generous, noble nature. 

The gubernatorial victory of 1851 I have tried faintly 
to depict, and you can realize, for the hard breathings of 
the desperate conliict have hardly yet ceased, though one 
of the gallant combatants breathes no more. This victo- 
ry, with the consequences which followed it, broke the 
wand of the opposition power in this State, and made 
Kentucky, in heart and sympathy, a Democratic State, 
ranked with the true friends of civil order in a just dis- 
tribution of the powers of government. In some sense, 
Powell's victory of 1851 made possible the Legislature of 
1867, and compelled and consolidated Kentucky into the 
position of a besieged citadel, the last stronghold of civil 
liberty, under a white man's government, on the Western 
continent. Let me leave the political to other hands, and 
view this great eventful nature by a nearer observation — 
this man, as he stood in the perfect plenitude of matured 
powers, in his daily life. An attribute greater, perhaps, 
than those that lent commanding fame to his memory, in 
that it was of the germ from which it sprung, was that 
quality of kindness, so earnest, simple, and sincere, that 
attracted friends to him from every quarter and all par- 
ties—the great pervasive and reciprocal tie of humanity. 
None were more true, faithful, and tender in their friend- 
ships, more firm and resolute, more amiable and forgiving. 
Always prompt in response to the cry of sutfering, he 
made the sorrows of others all his own. Want was his 
mother, in the noblest sense, in that the wants of others 
commanded him to give, by nature's signet of their com- 
mon humanity. Benevolence flowed from the deep, rich 
fountains of his heart, and, like the rivers of a continent, 



128 Appendix. 

left untold treasures everywhere — not only in contribu- 
tions to public benefactions and institutions to mitigate 
the sufferings of mankind, but in that humble charity 
wherein the right knows not what the left hand gives. 
Humble, did I say ? Aye, by the tests of men ; but, tried 
in a truer scale, as much higher as his general philan- 
thropy exceeded the narrower meaning of the word and 
deed of charity. To the young he was fostering, gentle, 
and kind — a pleasant monitor, a priceless, sympathetic 
friend. The inexperienced lawyer was cheerfully assisted 
in his cases; principles were elucidated, precedents and 
decisions searched out, technicalities made plain in 
usefulness, and all as simply and naturally done as 
by a fellow-student, working steadily on a common 
footing in a common class. So in his domestic life : 
his house stood with hospitable gates ajar, welcoming 
the stranger and the friend, the wayfarer and the dis- 
tressed. No cloistral quiet there, with grave and irk- 
some duties, where life was treated as a great sorrow 
to be borne in peace, but a genial, home-like pleas- 
antness, rife with joyous sounds, and echoing with 
contagious laughter from its open windows and light- 
inviting chambers. Little children loved and came to 
him. Their intuitions, wiser than our skill, recognized 
his kindly, generous nature, and they climbed about 
his knees, roguishly and confidingly, at once compan- 
ions, playmates, and friends. 

In some things this nature was too perfect to err ; he 
could sympathize with the child over its broken doll, as 
well as with a great people borne to the earth with sor- 
row for its national sins ; the young maiden strange with 
the new love springing in her innocent heart, and won- 
dering over the prize, found in this plain and simple man 
the tenderest adviser and friend — a confidant more true 
than her old school-mate, to whom she planned a future 
in the soft brilliance of their moon-lit chamber, as sweet 
and warm and rosy as the coming day itself. 



Appendix. 129 

This enlarged charity — for charity as God made the 
word, and not narrowly as man uses it, is the correct 
description — was one of the qualities and attributes of 
power of this pre-eminent man. In it and of it, drawling 
its sympathies and love, he grew into larger proportions 
before us, and greater in our hearts. All shared in it, 
all felt and acknowledged its influence. It is no more 
possible to resist a kindly nature shining; from a noble 
heart, than for earth to turn ungrateful to the sun, and 
refuse its plants and flowers to his generous kiss. It 
softened the asperities of life ; plucked thorns of rivalry 
from the rich roses of success, and toned in a responsive 
chime the alien feelings of political opponents. It be- 
came an impossibility to know the man with his ap- 
proachableness and familiarity of manner — his love and 
kindliness — and be able to resist or distrust him. His 
open nature was but a consequence of his loving and 
tender sensibilities, and drew to him confidence from 
quarters unexpected — a striking example of which I will 
relate. 

In the spring of 1864 I went to Washington City to 
obtain a passport to Virginia, that I might bring to Ken- 
tucky, her native State, a lady relative and friend, who 
was then within the Confederate lines. This I obtained 
from President Lincoln, with some difficulty, after a per- 
sonal interview. The lines on both sides w^ere at the 
time closed and carefully guarded, for Gen. Lee occupied 
a defiant attitude, and Grant was about to enter upon 
his celebrated advance and campaign upon the Ilapidan. 
A close espionage upon all going to or coming from Vir- 
ginia was maintained, and it was difficult to escape 
arrest and imprisonment, even when passes legitimately 
obtained and properly authenticated were in the posses- 
sion of parties seeking to enter the lines. Gen. Butler 
was then in command at Fortress Monroe, at which point 
I expected to meet the fiag-of-truce boat, and commu- 
9 



130 Appendix. 

nicate with the Commissioners of Exchange in regard to 
the object of my mission. It was thought better by my 
friends in Washington City that letters of introduction 
to tlie Commandant at Fortress Monroe should be pro- 
cured, as he could greatly facilitate my business, and, in 
case of difficulty or detention by subordinates, would 
extend to myself and friend that protection and aid 
which civilians so frequently required during the late 
war. These letters Gov. Powell undertook to procure. 
Taking me into the Senate Chamber just before the 
opening of the morning session, he introduced me to 
various Republican Senators, and of the most prominent 
and influential of these— men whose names, then and 
now, were and are distinguished in their party — he re- 
quested letters of introduction to Ctcu. Butler in my 
behalf. To each one he undertook to explain who I was 
and why I desired to obtain the letters; but the same 
unvarying answer was returned : "// is enough for us to 
know, GoDernnr, tliat he is a friend of yours. We are satis- 
jied you would not recommend any one who was not, in your 
opinion, honorable, and every way worthy of confidence.''^ 
Thus, at a period when the national existence was 
thought to be imperiled ; when grand armies were 
marching and preparing for the greatest and most de- 
cisive campaign of that sanguinary war, and a neces- 
sarily strict surveillance on all who were not known 
to be in full accord with the Government M'as main- 
tained — the personal respect and regard entertained for 
the distinguished gentleman whose memory we seek to 
honor to-day, induced Senators who differed with him 
as widely in political views as in sympathies, to trust a 
friend of his of whose opinions and antecedents they 
knew nothing nor sought to know at the most vital crisis 
of the nation's life. 

It was a striking mark of confidence in the man, and 
singular in the occasion and circumstances ; but it illus- 



Appendix. 131 

trates the power and intiueiice of that cxtraordiiiary 
quality of kindliness and generosity in his nature, and 
I oifer it as explanatory not only of his great success in 
life, but as a key to that success itself. 

We never know how much a single kind word may do ; 
how much less, then, can we estimate the measure of a 
life iilled to the brim, as was Governor Powell's, with 
words and deeds of kindness? Thus the amiability of 
his character and mind was promotive of harmony and 
concord, as, on the other hand, the tendency of some 
sharp incisive natures is to intensify dilferenccs and 
develop prejudice. That these two are constantly at 
war, and mingle in general political divisions, often to 
the detriment of the public interest, no one will deny. 
He sought diligently to promote the one and subdue into 
silence and harmlessness the other ; and his eil'orts, in 
conjunction with those of other able men of the party 
in the State, were successful in bringing into something 
of organization the elements of conservatism, which, for 
a brief time after the war closed, could find no nucleus 
about which they were inclined to gather. But gather 
they did at last — Federal and Confederate — blue-coat 
and gray — Whig and Democrat — forgetting past dilfer- 
ences in a common interest for a common cause and 
country, and striking hands across the bloody graves of 
comrades and friends, as they pledged to each other 
political and personal faith for all time to come. Tlius 
the canvass of 1865 was inaugurated; thus a Democratic 
Legislature — our immediate predecessors — was elected ; 
thus, and by these elements and agencies, was formed 
the great Democraiic party which dominates Kentucky 
to-day. This and such like actions harmonized with his 
life and character. The aim was high and patriotic, 
and it was loftily and gloriously achieved ; for he sought 
to twine the various strands of public sentiment into a 
single cable, to hold firmly forever to the rock of the 



132 Appendix. 

Constitution his loved native State — that Kentucky in 
which is preserved now, as in the ark which arose over 
the desolate waters of the deluge, all the good in gov- 
ernment and civil liberty left out of the terror of revolu- 
tion and rebellion. 

Courteous, amiable, and polite, he was withal cool, de- 
cided, and courageous. He adopted no opinions hastily 
and without deliberation ; but when fully matured, and 
he convinced of their correctness, he adhered to them 
with tenacity, and defended them with skill and ability. 
When, in the Senate, during an exciting period of the 
late war, an apparent majority of the people of the 
country, and a large portion of the people of his own 
State, were wildly striking at and assailing him for the 
entertainment of certain opinions inimical to their pecu- 
liar views, and the cry arose, " expel him from the seat 
he disgraces," he stood, his head high lifted in the eternal 
sunshine of truth and conscious rectitude, unmoved like 
Atlas, and as calm 'mid the storm of popular furj', and 
smiled as it crashed so threateningly but harmlessly by. 
A short time thereafter, and in the kind words and ap- 
proving smiles of enlightened conservatives all over the 
land, he received the reward of his constancy and devo- 
tion to principle. 

"Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife, 
His chiefest answer was a blameless life ; 
And he that forged, and he that threw the dart, 
Had each a brother's interest in his heart." 

It was this quality of firmness and decision which 
peculiarily illustrated his administration as chief execu- 
tive officer of the State and his career as a Senator in 
Congress, and wdiich rendered him so eminent and suc- 
cessful as the leader of his party in the State. 

In the character of the man, we may well differ as to 
the causes of his elevation. One may compare him to a 
mountain whose rocky 'base is ever lashed by the turbu- 



Appendix. 133 

lent waters and blasted by the hurricane, yet upon whose 
higher slopes the peasant pastures his peaceful flock, and 
everlasting sunshine crowns its head. But Powell's was 
not the deep-seated indifference of a cool phlegmatic na- 
ture, cautious per force. Another may see in his forecast 
and seemingly wonderful political prescience the work- 
ings of an intellect lifted into serenity by lofty abilities, 
rivaling the star whose placid splendor adorns the riven 
earth, yet in its glorious beauty ever lifted above and de- 
tached from the world it brightens. But his was none of 
this. He was true to human nature by every fibre of his 
heart. From it he drew his strength and elevated his 
stature ; for never were his brains and sympathies an idle 
gold. If he wore some of the brilliance of the star, the 
radiance was won from elements which belong to earth ; 
if he was calm amid turbulence, it was not from the hard 
impassiveness of a stern and unimpressible nature. He 
was to us and our common human nature rather like the 
tree, which, first a slender shoot, peers up into the air, 
and drawing life and nutriment from its native soil, new 
strength enters its stalk, and it bursts into leaves and 
branches: so, year by year, growing and strengthening 
in root, fibre, and branch, spreading its gnarled and mossy 
limbs, and lifting itself higher against the sky it almost 
touches, we sit under its shelter and are safe. Every 
breath of Heaven stirs its leaves ; the imperceptible wan- 
dering air moves it ; the shock of earth, in its motion, is 
acknowledged ; yet, steady in its rugged bark and heart 
of oak, it defies the whirlwind and the storm, and shakes 
off the tears of rain in flashing rainbows of supernal light. 
Thus was the lamented dead. So he grew from our hu- 
man nature ; our sympathies in common were the fibres, 
our breath of favor the healthful air. He was strong only 
as he drew strength in the nourishment afforded by nature, 
and in giving back his love in return, as the healthful sap 
follows the beckon of spring and fall. It was his humani- 



134 Appendix. 

ty which, like earth to the oak, gave inipulrie, strength, 
and success ; the firmer and stronger he grew the more 
gently, and, as the leaves to the winds of heaven, he yield- 
ed to the sympathies and love of his fellow-men. 

Under the green shadow we have rested for the last 
time, and now the fallen oak needs but these tender mosses 
to grow over it, watered by our tears, and becoming 
greener year by year over the grave of the statesman, 
patriot, and gentleman — Lazarus W. Powell. 



MONUMENT TO GOV. L. W. POWELL. 



On the 6th of March, 1868, ex-Gov. Beriah Maooffin, 
fi-om a Select Committee, reported to the House of Rep- 
resentatives the following bill, which was passed unani- 
mously ; and being- reported to the Senate on the same 
day, it was also passed by that body without a dissenting 
vote, and approved by the Governor on the 9th of the 
same month ; 

An Act. to erect a Monument over the Grave of the late Governor Lazauts 

W. Powell. 

§ I. Be it enacted by the General Asscinbly of the Coin- 
monwcaJtk of Kenfuckt/, That the Acting Governor of tiiis 
Commonwealth, John W. Stevenson, be, and the same is 
hereby, authorized to contract for the erection of a mon- 
ument over or near the grave of the late Gov. Lazarus 
W. Powell; and, before contracting for said monument, 
he shall advertise for proposals and plans for the same. 

§ 2. That when said monument shall have been erect- 
ed according to contract, and the same certified to the 
Auditor of Public Accounts, it shall be his duty to issue 
his warrant on the Treasurer for an amount not exceed- 
ing fifteen hundred dollars, which amount is hereby 
appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treas- 
ury not otherwise appropriated. 

§ 3. This act shall take effect from its passage. 






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Ih^w., a,„| En-K.VL-.I l,)r|i,., .SVw VoiklJui.-.ul ul lllllsiraLl.ui, l.lUl''. 



BIOaRAPHICAL SKETCH 



HON. JOHN L. HELM, 



(JOYERNOll OF KENTUCKY. 



PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF KENTUCKY. 



FRANKFORT, KY.: 
PRINTED AT THE KENTUCKY YEOMAN OFFICE. 

S. I. M. MAJOR, PUBLIC PRINTER. 
1868, 



IN THE SENATE OP KENTUCKY, 

MARCH 6, 1S68. 



Mr. Alexander moved the following resolution, viz : 

Resolved, That a Committee of two of the Senate be appointed by the 
Chair, to act in conjunction with a similar Committee of the House, to 
prepare Biographical Sketches of the Hon. L. W. Powell and tlie Hon. 
John L. Helm, and that the Public Printer be directed to print three 
thousand eight hundred copies of each Biography for the use of the Sen- 
ate, together with the speeches delivered on the passage of the resolu- 
tions in regard to their death in the Senate and the House, the same to 
be published in pamphlet form, accompanied with lithographic portraits 
of the deceased, and that they be mailed to the members of both Houses, 
postage paid. 

Which was twice read and adopted. Senators .Joseph 
M. Alexander, of the county of Fleming, and Ben. J. 
Webb, of the City of Louisville, were appointed, in pur- 
suance of the resolution, to perform the duty assigned 
thereunder. 

On the same da}^ Mr. McKenzie presented the above 
resolution in the House of Representatives, where it was 
unanimously adopted, and the following named gentle- 
men were appointed to perform the duty indicated by 
the resolution, viz : Messrs. J. A. McKenzie, of Christian 
county; S. I. M. M.\jor, of Franklin county; and R. M. 
Spalding, of Marion county. 



INTRODUCTION. 



is appreciable by everybody. But these, as connected 
with great numbers of eminent men, have all been lost 
for want of a chronicler. Hence it is, that biographers 
are so often obliged to assume in style the dead level of 
compact history, which is altogether unsuited to such 
writings; and hence, too, their works are little read and 
less appreciated. 

In justice to one of the most useful — as he was certain- 
ly one of the most esteemed — men of our day, we have 
sought diligently to remedy, in the present instance, this 
usual defect of all modern biography, but with results, 
we cannot but acknowledge, by no means commensurate 
with our wishes. 

Governor Helm's was a mind of no common order ; and 
dying, as he did, in the zenith of his fame, it is not to be 
wondered at that his fellow-citizens should desire to pre- 
serve the record of his life. We, who have been commis- 
sioned to perform this duty, may well fear that the result 
of our labors will be found very imperfect by those who 
had the honor of the late Governor's intimate acquaint- 
ance. They will believe us, however, when we state that 
we have given to our work such attention as was in our 
power and such ability as we could command. 

It is due to the members of Governor Helm's family to 
state that they have furnished us with almost the entire 
details of his private life contained in the following pages. 
We are indebted, likewise, to the Hon. Charles Winter- 
smith, of Elizabethtown, for much valuable information 
that has either been embodied in the text of our work or 
in the copious notes which will be found appended. 

JOS. M. ALEXANDER, 
BEN. J. W^EBB, 

Senate Cojnmittce. 
J. A. McKENZIE, 
S. I. M. -MAJOR, 
R. M. SPALDING, 

House Committee. 



JOHN L. HELM. 



"Vita knim Mortdorum in Memoriam Vivorum est posita." — Cicero. 

The above sentiment of the great exponent of ancient 
Roman law is peculiarly applicable among a people whose 
liberties and liberal institutions are the fruits of the blood 
and labors of a truly virtuous ancestry : " The life of the 
dead is placed in the memory of the living." In other 
words, a virtuous people will always seek to perpetuate 
the memory of its virtuous dead. It is only by doing this 
that progress is at all possible, whether in social elevation 
or government, in science or morals. Example is the best 
of teachers. For the ninety years of our existence as a 
nation, we are indebted for the liberties we have enjoyed, 
more than to any other cause, to the fact that we have 
kept constantly before our eyes the examples of virtue, of 
patriotism, of courage and endurance, left to us by Wash- 
ington and the Fathers of the Republic. 

The biographies of the eminent men who have illus- 
trated the periods in which they lived, make up a large 
portion of the history of the world. They are the land- 
marks of past centuries. The positions in which the in- 
dividuals they commemorate were placed, whether in the 
confidences reposed in them, the persecutions to which 
they were subjected, the uprisings against their misrule, 
or the patient submissions co their prowess, are facts from 
which we may infer much of the character of the people 
among whom their lives were cast. But their memories 
stand as living and grouped monuments, whose shafts 
point to their cotemporaries and after generations the 
way to fame and eminence, and incite to emulation when 
good, or to avoidance when bad. 

it is meet and appropriate that each State and Govern- 
ment should, in some form, preserve the records of such 



g John L. Helm- 

as have " done the State some service," or have advanced 
the general interests of their race. The neglect, in this 
particular, which has heretofore characterized the State 
of Kentucky, certainly does her no credit, but is a stain 
on her otherwise bright escutcheon. Her record is one of 
which her people need not be ashamed, but of which, in 
many things, they may entertain a just sense of pride. 
This record may be greatly attributable to what was form- 
erly called KcntiLcky stump sjjcakmg, which was nothing 
else than a free interchange of opinions among the people. 
In its widest acceptation, the distinction between large 
employers and dependent employes has never obtained 
in Kentucky; but every man has considered himself a free- 
man, and the equal of any other, legally, socially, and 
politically, whether he lived in a cabin or a stately man- 
sion — whether he cultivated a few acres o*- M'^as the lord 
over a vast domain — whether he labored in the workshop, 
M^as engaged in commerce, or was eminent in professional 
life. Amongst us, however, public opinion has ever been 
led by men of mark, and the actions and characteristics 
of such, their modes of thought and life, claim such illus- 
trations of them as will convey a proper idea of what 
they were and are, and the means by v^^hich they attained 
their eminent positions over others who had before ranked 
as their equals. The only nobility they claimed, or could 
claim, was private worth or merit, and the only distinc- 
tion that has been paid them was a just homage to their 
virtues. 

In seeking to keep alive in the hearts of the people the 
benefits conferred upon their State and the country by 
two of their eminent departed citizens, the General As- 
sembly has acted wisely and well. Thousands of our 
youth, the future hope of the Republic, who are to become 
in due time the custodians of the priceless liberties Avhich 
we trust to bequeath them, as we ourselves inherited them 
from our fathers, will read the records of their lives, and 



John L. Helm. 9 



be thereby stimulated to walk in their footsteps and be- 
come, as they were, men worthy to be intrusted with 
powers over the rights and the interests of a free people. 
Some may be disposed to doubt if it would not have been 
better to await the development of a more assured public 
sentiment in regard to the value of their services to the 
State and the country before publishing their lives. We 
do not think so. Ours is a progressive people — progress- 
ive especially in material ideas and their solution — and, 
like all such, we are too much given to thoughts of self 
to bear in mind and transmit to our children, in the form 
of oral traditions, the life-records of those among our co- 
temporaries who have deserved well of their country. A 
good and a great man dies, and after the first outburst of 
our genuine lamentation and somewhat showy grief, our 
thoughts are diverted into other channels, and, after a few 
short years, unless it be prevented by the very means that 
have been adopted with reference to the lamented dead 
M'hose biographies Ave have been commissioned to write, 
he is no more remembered by even those amongst whom 
he lived and labored, than the man that fills the smallest 
point in the history of the nation. If our children should 
happen to hear his name mentioned, it will only be in 
connection \vith the otlice he once filled, and the whole 
example of his life is lost. The services that an individual 
may have rendered to his countiy, or to society, are pro- 
portionally valuable as the}' are remembered or lost sight 
of after his career is closed ; and as it is only by the aid of 
the press that it is possible for us, under the circumstances 
in which we are placed, to extend beyond our own brief 
spans of existence the memory of such services, so do we 
confer a real benefit upon our children when we seek to 
preserve for them the examples of virtue, patriotism, cour- 
age, and the like, which have been set before us by the 
good and the great of our own day and generation. 

The family from M'hich the late Governor Helm de- 
scended was one among the most respected and influen- 



10 



John L. Helm. 



tial of those that originally settled the Old Dominion 
Colony. His grandfather, Thomas Helm, was born in 
Prince William county, Virginia, where he continued to 
reside up to the year 1780. In February of the year 
named, he joined a colony of emigrants, consisting of 
his own family and those of William Pope, Henry Floyd, 
and Benjamin Pope, who had determined to seek their 
fortunes in the yet unexplored wilderness of Kentucky. 
The emigrants reached the Falls of the Ohio, now Louis- 
villr, in March, 1780, in the vicinity of which the Pope 
fani'lies finally settled, and where their numerous de- 
scendants are still to be found, highly respected citizens 
of the community of which they form a part. Mr. Floyd, 
with his family, first settled near Bardstown, in Nelson 
county ; but a few years later he removed to the loM-er 
part of the State, into the district now known as Union 
county. Mr. Helm remained at the Falls for about one 
year, his family sufiering greatly, during the summer and 
{"all after his arrival, from the bilious diseases so common 
to the first settlers of the place. Having lost four of his 
children by death, he determined to seek for a home in a 
more healthy locality. Mounting his horse, he set his 
face inland, with the determination not to return until 
he had selected a permanent abiding place for his family. 
On the third day of his search, he reached the foot of the 
hill in the vicinity of the present village of Elizabethtown, 
which commands the site upon which he afterwards lived 
and died, as well as that of the cemetery where he now 
rests, surrounded by his descendants to the fifth genera- 
tion.* 



•'■A singular circumstance is related in counection willi the selection made 
by Mr. Helm of his future place of residence. Before leaving Virginia, but 
while deliberating on the subject of a removal, he had dreamed of just such 
a spot as that upon which his eye rested when be ascended the hill spoken 
of in the text. The very spring at which he had slaked his thirst, rushing 
out of its rocky bed, strong, clear, and sparkling, was as the visionary foun- 



John L. Helm. 11 



Thomas Helm was just the kind of man to make his 
way in a new country. Daring, active, and possessing 
habits and tastes that were well suited to the life of a 
pioneer, he was soon the occupant of a strongly-built 
Fort, which he had erected for the protection of his family 
against the then frequent predatory excursions of roving 
bands of Indians. This Fort was situated in the small 
valley which intersects the hills traversing the farm now 
known as the " Helm Place." Mrs. Helm, lU'e Miss Jenny 
Pope, a near relative of the gentlemen of that name that 
had accompanied her husband to Kentucky, Avas a re- 
markable contrast to the head of the family. While her 
husband's ordinary Aveight was considerably over two 
hundred pounds, her own was little over eighty. Small 
as she was in stature, her courage was equal to the situ- 
ation in which she found herself placed, as was abun- 
dantly proved on several occasions when hostile rifles, 
in the hands of Indian marauders, were directed against 
the stronghold which contained her household gods.* 

Jenny Pope Helm is still remembered by several of her 
surviving grand-children and others of the older members 
of the settlement, as she appeared during the last years 
of her life, an infant in size beside the almost gigantic 
proportions of her husband — quick of movement, erect 
as in her youth, always busy and always good-tempered. 

tain that harl a]>peared to him in his dream. The coincidence startled him 
greatly; and, thoujjh anything but a superstitions man, he accepted the 
omen as a happy one, and concluded to search nc further. 

*0n a certain occasion, one of her sons, in company with a party from an 
adjoining settlement, had been dispatched to the Bullitt Licks, near Shep- 
herdsville, for a supply of salt. The party was attacked by Indians, and 
her son killed. The body was recovered by one of his companions, who 
bound it on his horse and brought it to the Fort. The mother was on the 
watch for her returning boy; and seeing the horseman approaching with his 
strange-looking burden slung across the shoulders of his beast, she hastened 
to the gate in order to open it for his entrance. Who can paint the horror 
of the moment, when just as the heavy gate swung back upon its hinges, 
the mangled remains of her son, the bands breaking which had held them 
in their place, fell from the horse prone at her feet. 



12 



John L. Helm. 



Almost to the end of her days she was able to undergo 
fatigue that would now send to her sofa or to her bed 
many a woman of our own times of half her years. 
When she was eighty years old she thought nothing of 
springing from the ground to her horse's back without 
assistance.* Though both had come of comparatively 
wealthy families, neither did Thomas Helm nor his wife 
ever regret the hardships they encountered in the back- 
woods. Gradually the Indians were driven from the 
State, and a comfortable log house was built beside the 
old Fort, which served them for a residence for the re- 
mainder of their days, and where, surrounded by dutiful 
sons and daughters, they lived contented and happy, and 
died mourned by the entire community. 

Gov. Helm's maternal grand-parents were John Larue 
and Mary Brooks, who had emigrated from the Valley of 
the Shenandoah, Virginia, in the year 1784. f Mrs. Larue 

* When a boy of ten years, the late Governor Helm was a great favorite 
with his grand-parents. He often spoke of his grandmothers brisk ways, 
as she pattered about the house in her high-heeled shoes and short skirts. 
His grandfather Helm was the oracle of the whole neighborhoad on all 
matters connected with the revolutionarj' era and the Indian troubles in 
Kentucky. It was at the knees of his venerable progenitor 'that Governor 
Helm drank in the history of his country, and learned to appreciate the 
sacrifices made by the patriot-band that achieved our liberties. 

t John Larue settled on a knoll in the vicinity of a creek then unnamed, 
near the present town of Hodgenville. We mention this circumstance in 
order to notice a tradition that has come down to the present inhabitants of 
the vicinage, in relation to the name by which the creek is now known. A 
company of pioneers had agreed to meet on the knoll near Larue's house on 
a certain day, for the purpose of giving a name and designation to the 
stream. One of the pioneers, named Lynn, failed to make his appearance. 
The last one that arrived, looking around, exclaimed, "Here we are on the 
knoll, but no Lynn.'' Knowing Lynn's character for punctuality, the re- 
mark seemed to rivet the attention of all present and to create disquiet in 
their minds, lest their absent friend had been waylaid and killed, and they, 
too, and their families, might be the unwarned victims of a lurking and merci- 
less foe. They instantly agreed to call the stream Nolynn; and it still rolls 
its beautiful and limped waters, by that cognomen, on by the Dismal Rock to 
Green River, into which stream it empties at the foot of the Indian Hill, one 
of the grandest curiosities in Kentucky. 

In connection with the name of John Lauue we append an extract from 



John L. Helm. 13 

was not only a highly cultivated woman, but she was con- 
sidered the beauty of the settlements. It were impossible 
to doubt this, since she was thrice married, and survived 
all her husbands. They settled in what is now Larue 
county, adjoining that of Hardin. Mrs. Larue, finding 
that the entire settlement contained not a single physi- 
cian, obtained the consent of her husband to apply herself 
to the study of medicine. With such text-books as were 
within her reach, she set to work, and soon became so 
noted for skill in the curative art that her services were 
in requisition far beyond the line within which she had 
designed to practice. Often, at the risk of danger from 
the prowling savages, she was known to ride for miles 
through the forests to reach the bedside of the sick, who 
had learned to depend upon her skill with as great faith 
as if she had carried a regular diploma pinned to her bon- 
net. Her first husband rather encouraged her charitable 
work; but her second husband, a Mr. Enlow, fearing the 
danger to which she was constantly exposed in her too 

a letter addressed to one of the Committee, from an old and highly influential 
citizen of Hardin county : 

"Helm's maternal grandfather came from the Shenandoah Valley, near 
Battletown — now called Berry ville — at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains. 
I have visited the spot, and it was then as lovely a portion of God's earth as 
eyes ever beheld. Since that day, alas! it has been swept of its beauties by 
fire and the desolating tread of a brutalized soldiery. There is a fact con- 
nected with the wanton destruction of property in this part of Virginia 
which I cannot forbear mentioning. The Valley of the Shenandoah had 
been the home of the Larues ever since the settlement of the country, and 
many members of the family continue to reside there to this day. The late 
Mr. Lincoln's father lived close by those of them that had emigrated to 
Kentucky and settled on Nohjnn. He was poor, and, at the time of Mr. Lin- 
coln's birth, his family was almost subsisted by the charity of the Larue 
family. When the order was given to render desolate the Shenandoah Val- 
ley, it was an ukase against the near relatives of those who had given Mr. 
Lincoln bread in his impoverished infancy. The Larue- family, though none 
of its members ever attained any marked eminence, was made up of indus- 
trious, quiet, unobtrusive people, who were not only excellent citizens, but 
also pious Christians." 



24 John L. Helm. 

lengthened journeys, and dreading the effects of the often 
inclement weather upon her health, absolutely forbade 
her any longer to practice her art.* Her daughter, Re- 
becca Larue, the eldest of thirteen children, was a babe 
in arms when her parents came to Kentucky, having been 
born in Frederick county, Virginia. She afterwards be- 
came the wife of George Helm and the mother of the 
late Governor John L. Helm. It was in compliment to 
her, too, that the present county of Larue owes the name 
by which it is known. f 

*A short time after she had ceased, in obedience to her husband's com- 
mands, to respond to the calls of her numerous patients, a woman living 
several miles away, and who was thought to be in great danger of death, 
sent her an urgent request to come to her assistance. The woman was very- 
poor and helpless; and for this- reason, she begged of her husband to be 
permitted to go. He told her no; he had made up hfs mind that she must 
give up all thought of resuming an avocation so unsuited to her sex. It 
was but a short time before the messenger returned, bringing with him still 
more urgent appeals from the suffering woman not to permit her to die 
unaided. With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Enlow fell on her knees before her 
husband, and prayed that she might be permitted, for that one time, to go to 
the assistance of her stricken friend. This happened in the fore part of 
the night. Her husband, melted by her entreaties, agreed that, should the 
woman survive till morning, she might then go to her. Through the long 
hours of the night Mrs. Enlovv closed not her eyes, but patiently awaited 
for the dawn. With the earliest gleam of returning day, her watchful ear 
distinguished the distant galloping of a horse. It was the returning mes- 
senger, and her heart bounded with joy when she thought of the possibility 
that she might yet reach her patient in time to save the poor woman's life, 
and to prevent her little ones from becoming orphans. She sprang from her 
bed, and in answer to her husband's deprecatory words and looks, exclaim- 
ed: "You promised that I might go, and you must stand by your word." 
Bounding on her horse, she soon reached the bed-side of the suffering 
woman, to whom she administered in such wise as to give her immediate 
relief, and contribute to her ultimate recovery. 

tThis happened in this wise: When the new county was formed, the late 
Governor was a member of the Legislature, and out of compliment to him, 
it was proposed to call it Helm county. There were a few negative votes 
given against the resolution that was offered to this effect. These dissenting 
voices touched the pride of the Representative from Hardin, and rising to 
his feet, he declared he would not accept a compliment that was not unani- 
mously rendered. He suggested, at the same time, that the new county 
should be called after the maiden name of his mother. He thought this 



John L. Helm. 15 



George Helm, the father of the late Governor John L. 
Helm, was born in Prince William county, Virginia, in 
the year 1774, and was, consequently, six years of age 
when his father removed to Kentucky. Having taken an 
active part in redeeming from the wilderness the fruitful 
farm upon which his father lived and died, he remained an 
agriculturist all his life, superintending and directing, up 
to the year 1820, all the farming operations on the place. 
In 1801 he was united in marriage with Rebecca Larue, 
who bore to him nine children — four boys and five girls, 
only four of whom still survive.* No man wa.s more 
respected than he in Hardin county, and none had 
warmer personal friends. At one time or other he filled 
almost every office, civil and legislative, in the gift of his 
fellow-citizens. 

In 1821 George Helm, becoming embarrassed in his 
business operations, undertook a journey to Texas, with 
the expectation of entering into business in that then 

particularly appropriate, as the family of the Larues, whose progenitors 
had been its first settlers, were numerous in the county. A resolution to 
this effect was afterwards unanimously carried. 

* Eliza Helm, the late Governor's eldest sister, at the age of seventeen, 
married her counsin, Warren Larue, Esq., and has ever since lived in 
Elizabethtown, where she is beloved and honored by every one. Wherever 
sickness and poverty have their abode, there oftencst may be seen "Mamma 
Eliza,'' as she is called by high and low, brisk, helpful, and overflowing 
with pity toward all that are sick and suffering. Wm. D. Helm is a highly 
respected physician residing in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Thos. P. Helm 
died young. Lucretia Helm married Stephen Yeaman, Esq., and her sec- 
ond son, George H. Yeaman, is now Minister from the United States to 
Denmark. She has also a son who is a highly respected Baptist Minister in 
New York City. Louisa Helm married Mr. Isaiah Miller, a well-to-do 
farmer of Hardin county. She died many years ago. Mary Jane Helm 
married the Hon. Patrick Tompkins, of Vicksburg, Miss., who was at one 
time a member of Congress. Both herself and her husband are long since 
dead. Squire L. Helm and Malvina Helm, who were quite young whea 
their father died, were reared up and educated by the late Governor with 
his own children. The latter died in her girlhood, and the former is now a 
much esteemed Christian Minister, connected with the Baptist Church in 
Kentucky, and now acting in the capacity of "State Evangelist." 



16 John L. Helm. 

wild dependency of the Mexican Government. There 
he died in 1822. 

Jdiin Larue Helm, late Governor of Kentucky, was 
born' on the 4th day of July, 1802, at the old Helm home- 
stead, near the summit of Muldrough's Mountain, one 
and a quarter miles north of the village of Elizabeth- 
town. Amid the bold, wild scenery of the mountain's 
northern face, and in the beautiful prairie which courses 
its southern slope, rich with its waving grasses, wild 
strawberries, and hazel shrubs, he spent his childhood 
and youth. The country at the time was sparsely peo- 
pled. The valley in which his paternal ancestry resided 
was distant eleven miles from the residence of his mater- 
nal grand-parents, and between the two localities was 
one vast prairie, with but a single house, situated on a 
small stream, to relieve the monotony of the panorama. 
The country, only a few years before, extended from the 
Rolling Fork of Salt River on the north to Green River 
on the south, and then embraced a territory which is 
now divided into three counties and parts of others, and 
which then contained scarcely as many hundred inhabi- 
tants as it now does thousands. The war-whoop of the 
red man had then scarcely ceased its echoes through the 
forests, and herds of wild animals and flocks of wild 
birds wandered and flew over woodland and prairie 
fearlessly and almost undisturbed. 

Such were the scenes and times in which the subject of 
our memoir w^as born and reared, only changed as time 
progressed by the continued flow of immigration and the 
labor of the strong arms which w^ere opening the country 
to cultivation. He lived with his father and grandfather 
up to the age of sixteen, and, for about eight years of 
the time, attended various schools in the neighborhood. 
He had for his master during the latter years of his 
school life the afterwards celebrated Democratic politi- 



John L. Helm. 17 



cian and editor, Duff Green,* under whose instructions 
he made rapid advances in his studies. Another one of 
his masters was a certain Domine Rathbone, whose mem- 
ory is still preserv^ed in the annals of Nolynn Valley. 
He was a ripe scholar, but singularly odd in appearance 
and manner. Like Goldsmith's Village Schoolmaster, he 
impressed every one with the idea that what he did not 
know was not worth learning. 

"Amazed, the gazing rustics ranged around, 
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, 
That one small head conid carrj' all he knew. 
But past is all his fame; the very spot 
Where many a time he triumphed, is forgot.'' 

With a mind that was naturally bright, and with habits 
of industry that were remarkable in one of his years, the 
boy's advancement in knowledge was swift and easy. 

■•"An anecdote illustrative of the Governor's character thus early in life is 
related in connection with his school days under Mr. Green. On a certaia 
occasion, when about thirteen years of age, he refused obedience to a com- 
mand of the master which he deemed tyrannical and unjust. For this his 
teacher determined to punish him. At the time referred to, discipline in the 
school-room was preserved only by one method — the use of the rod. The 
boy was decidedly averse to this method in his case, because he thought 
the punishment was both degrading and undeserved. After having received 
a single blow, he bounded to the door with the hope of escaping from the 
room. As is usual on such occasions, however, the teacher had his toadies 
among the larger boys, and these prevented his exit. Finding he had no 
power of resistance, he submitted to what he esteemed a degradation. With 
lips firmly set and eyes boldly bent on the face of his tormentor, he received 
without flinching or murmuring, many strokes of the rod, until the marks 
of blood appeared in blotches through his garments. His sisters and others 
of the school-girls beginning to cry, the teacher was forced to desist without 
having conquered his obstinate pupil. Years after he had reached manhood, 
Helm remembered and resented in his heart the insult, as he called it, which 
he had been forced to submit to. But he was himself gray-haired when he 
next met Dhff Green, who was then an old man. When the latter recog 
nized his former pupil, who had then become a man of distinction in hig 
native State, the tears rushed to his eyes, and grasping his hands with a 
warmth of affection that was indicative of the pride he took iu his former 
pupil's advancement in life, all resentment vanished from Helm's mind, and 
the two remained fast friends up to the late Governor's death. Dhff Greek 
long since retired from the turmoil of partisan politics, and now resides in 
Baltimore, Maryland, beloved and respected by all who know him. 
2 



18 



John L, Helm. 



The fact that he had been born on the anniversary day of 
his country's independence appears to have influenced 
his entire life. Imperceptibly to himself, he M^as led 
thereby to study the history of his country, and make 
himself familiar with the lives of all tho-se eminent 
men who had taken part in the events which preceded 
and immediately followed the formation of the Govern- 
ment. Certain it is, before he had attained the age of 
sixteen, he had accumulated a sum of knowledge in 
regard to the past history of the country, and the charac- 
ter of its institutions, which is rarely acquired by men of 
mature years. Unwittingly, he was fitting himself for 
the patriotic duties that devolved upon him in after life. 
His school life ended when he had barely attained the 
age of fourteen years. About this time his father sull'ered 
a series of severe pecuniary losses, which made it neces- 
sary for him to withdraw his son from school, in order that 
he might avail himself of his services on the farm. He 
remained in this position till the year 1818, when a situ- 
ation of more pecuniary value was ofl'ered him in the 
oflice of the Circuit Court Clerk of Hardin county.* His 
duties as Deputy Clerk of the Court were of a character 
to incline him to the law as a profession, and doubtless 
his preliminary legal studies were prosecuted while he 
M^as still an inmate of Mr. Haycraft's oflice. It was not 

•«• Samuel Haycraft, Clerk of the Hardin Circuit Court, was, and still is, 
a remarkable character. He was, at the time referred to in the text, not 
only an excellent clerk, exact and industrious, but he was looked upon as 
the most interesting conversationalist in the county. His peculiar fondness 
for anecdote, of which his head was a perlecl store-house, rendered the 
sessions of the Hardin courts singularly attractive to the members of the 
bar throughout the district. They would come from the neighboring coun- 
ties, not merely for the transaction of business, but in order to refresh them- 
selves, as it were, at the ceaseless fountain of Haycraft's wit. All admitted 
that much of the pleasure of the hour was attributable to the great good 
humor of the Circuit Court Clerk, and the constanUy varying little histories 
of men and things with which he was wont to beguile their leisure moments. 
He yet lives, in a good old age, with all his fondness for jest and humor 
unabated, and none is held in truer veneration throughout the community. 



John L. IIelm. 19 



till the 5^ear 1821, however, that he was regularly entered 
as a student of law in the office of the late Ben. Tobin, 
Esq.,* a lawyer of high standing and ability, then prac- 
ticing in the courts of Hardin and the neighboring coun- 
ties. Never did student more earnestly devote himself to 
the pursuit of knowledge, from the moment he made up 
his mind upon the question of a future profession to that 
in which a license was issued to him to practice law in 
the courts of the Commonwealth, than did the subject of 
this brief memoir. He was at his books before others 
had arisen from their beds, and long after these had 
retired he was to be found " burning the midnight oil," 
and storing his mind with the wisdom of the past. 

Young Helm had scarcely reached the age of twenty, 
when death deprived him of his father, and he was not 
only thrown by that event upon his own resources for the 
means of subsistence and further necessary tuition, but he 
suddenly found himself burdened with the care of a help- 
less mother and her large family of small children, who 
had been left without any provision whatever for their 
support. No word of complaint or of repining VA^as heard 
from his lips ; l)ut he resolutely set himself to work to re- 
pair, for himself and the loved ones dependent on him, 
the family's broken fortunes. The close observer of men 
and manners will recognize, in the position so early forced 
upon young Helm, a truly fortuitous circumstance. There 
is nothing so incentive to exertion as the feeling that 
there are those dependent upon one's care who have none 



"•'■"Ben. Touin was aa excellent lawyer and a shrewd practiliouer. He 
possessed a power of satire that was almost unequaled. No one that 
deserved it, whether acting in the capacity of litigant or attorney, in 
opposition to his clients, was ever permitted to go out of the court-house, 
without having received at his hands such a torrent of uncomplimentary 
invectives as almost to drive him mad. Withal, he "was clever, honest, and 
faithful, and his cynicism was, perliaps, in a great degree attributable to the 
fact that he lived and died a bachelor. He has been dead for over thirty 
years, and his remains are interred in the village cemetery, no one knows 
exactly where. 



20 



John L. Helm. 



other to look to for the necessaries and consolations of 
life. It is always pleasant to contemplate a scene of un- 
selfisli family devotion. The members of this bereaved 
family found their hearts more closely drawn together in 
their atlliction; and mutually striving to lessen each other's 
burthens, they lived on in the hope of a happier future, 
wl.ich came at length, principally through the unflagging 
'devotion, energy, and judicious management of the elder 
son. Young Helm's thorough manliness of character was 
further exemplified by his assumption, a few years later, 
of the entire indebtedness of his father's estate, which he 
paid oft^ out of the first fruits of his legal practice. 

Mr. Helm was admitted to the bar in July, 1823, and he 
soon acquired a lucrative practice. The bar of the neigh- 
borhood was then one of the first in Kentucky, being 
composed of such men as Ben. Hardin, Ben. Chapeze, 
Charles A. Wickliffe, John Rowan, Richard A. Buckner, 
Samuel Brents, Jos. Allen, John Cahoun, A. H. Churchill, 
Ben. Tobin, and numerous others, who were all eminent 
men in their profession, and some of whom held then, 
or have since held, high positions under the State and 
Federal Governments. 

His steady habits, together with a certain energy of 
character which prompted him to give immediate atten- 
tion to whatever matters of business were intrusted to 
his direction, soon enabled him to add materially to the 
comforts of his mother and her helpless family of children. 
His business office was slimly furnished, to be sure, the 
entire catalogue of its contents being a couple of chairs 
for the use of his clients, and another, to one arm of which 
he had ingeniously fitted a sort of writing-desk, for his 
own accommodation. A more uncomfortable article than 
the latter never was contrived ; but so enamoured did 
Helm become of it — most likely from the associations con- 
nected with it in his mind — that for years he would use 
no other. The net results of his first year's practice sum- 
med up just twelve hundred dollars. 



John L. Helm. 21 



Few of our eminent men have exerted a greater influ- 
ence in the political party contests of the State than did 
John L. Helm. He was eminently a man of decision and 
energy. Impulsive, straightforward, and always bold in 
giving utterance to his opinions, for nearly forty years of 
his life he was regarded by his political associates as an 
element of unmistakable party strength. He was never 
an advocate of the policy of mere defense. He had 
learned in the school of experience that he that would not 
fight at a disadvantage, must not be content to parry the 
blows that are struck at him. He left to others all 
"womanish uplifting of the palms'' in deprecatory and 
futile resistance, and boldly dashed to the attack of his 
adversaries with a momentum of tlery energy that Avas at 
times resistless. 

Governor Helm's first essay in the field of political con- 
troversy owed its origin to the excited contest in Kentucky 
in the year 1825, between what were termed the " Old 
Court" and the " JVew Court" parties of that day. He 
was then only tvvent3'-three years old. The annexed ex- 
planation of the question at issue between the two politi- 
cal organizations of the time we take from the published 
writings of that eminent jurist, the Hon. Geoege Robert- 
sojv : 

" Shortly after the close of the last war with England, 
the Legislature of Kentucky initiated what has since 
been called 'the Relief System,' by extending the right 
to replevy judgments from three to twelve months. To 
minister still more relief to debtors, ' The Bank of the 
Commonwealth'' was chartered by a statute passed on the 
29th of November, 1820, and without any other capital 
than the net proceeds of the sales, as they might accrue, 
of some vacant lands, and for the debts or notes of which 
bank the State was not to be responsible beyond the said 
capital, which was scarcely more than nominal. It was 
foreseen, and by the debtor class desired, that the notes 



22 



John L. Helm. 



issued by that bank Avould soon become depreciated; and, 
in a short time, the depreciation fell to two dollars in 
paper of said bank for one dollar in gold or silver. To 
effectuate the relief intended by the charter, the Legis- 
lature, on the 25th of December, passed an act providing 
that, if a judgment creditor would indorse on his execu- 
tion that he would take the paper of said bank at par 
in satisfaction of his judgment, the debtor should be 
entitled to a replevin of only three months; but that, 
if such indorsement should not be made, the debtor might 
replevy for tvo yearn ; and, by an act of 1821, the ca. sa, 
for debt was abolished, and the right to subject choses 
in action and equities to the satisfaction of judgments 
was substituted. These extensions of replevin and this 
abrogation of the ca. sa. were, in terms, made applicable 
to all debts whenever or wherever contracted, and were^ 
consequently, expressly retroactive in their operation, 
embracing contracts made in Kentucky before the date 
of the enactment as well as such as should be made 
afterwards. To the retrospective aspect many conserva- 
tive men objected as inconsistent with that provision in 
the National Constitution which prohibits any State en- 
actment ' impairing the obligation of contracts,^ and also 
with that of the Constitution of Kentucky which forbids 
any legislative act '-impairing contracts.'' A majority of 
the people of Kentucky desiring legislative relief, either 
because they were in debt or sympathized with those 
who were, endeavored to uphold the whole relief system, 
while a firm and scrupulous minority denounced it as 
unconstitutioual and void. That collision produced uni- 
versal excitement, which controlled the local elections. 
The question was brought before the Court of Appeals 
of Kentucky, and, at its fall term in 1828, that tribunal 
uniiiiiinou^ly decided, in an opinion delivered on the 8th 
of October, 1823, by Chief Justice Boyle, in the case of 
Blair vs. Williams, and in opinions seriatim by the whole 



John L. Helm. 23 



Court on the 11th of the same month, in the cat^e of 
Lapsley vs. Brat^hear, cSic, that, so far as the Legislature 
had attempted to make the extension of replevin retro- 
active, its acts were interdicted b}^ both the Constitution 
of the State and of the Union. As v\'as foreseen, those 
decisions produced very great exasperation and con- 
sequent denunciation of the Court. The Judges were 
charged with arrogating supremacy over the popular 
will ; their authority to declare void any act of the 
Legislature was denied, and they were denounced by 
the organs and stump orators of the dominant Relief 
party as usurpers and self made kings. No popular 
controversy, waged without bloodshed, was ever more 
absorbing or acrimonious than that which raged like a 
hurricane over Kentucky for about three years succeed- 
ing the promulgation of those judicial decisions." 

Mr. Helm, who was then full of life and energy, and 
hopeful of a future that would compensate him for the 
labors and struggles he had hitherto undergone in prepar- 
ing himself for the active duties of his profession, entered 
the lists with the opponents of the proposed change in the 
Supreme Judiciary Department of the Commonwealth, 
and did eminent service in the interests of his party and 
the cause of right and justice. He not only addressed 
his fellow-citizens of his own county in their primary 
meetings, but he canvassed the adjoining counties, every- 
where stirring up the people to a sense of the dangerous 
doctrine that had been broached by the party that had 
been in power, and effectually silencing, wherever his 
voice could reach, the formidable opposition that had 
lately arrayed itself against the promulgations of the 
organic law. Not content with his oral efforts, he had 
recourse to his pen, and in a forcible and well-digested 
address, in pamphlet form, scattered his thoughts from 
one end of the State to the other. The "Old Court" 
party succeeded in returning a sufficient number of mem- 



24 



John L. Helm. 



hers to the Legislature to defeat its antagonists, and at 
the session of 1825-6 the vexed question was settled in 

its favor. 

In the latter part of the year 1824, the organization of 
the new county of Meade took place, and as there hap- 
pened to be no attorney residing within its limits, Mr. 
Helm was commissioned by the Governor to discharge 
the duties of County Attorney. The duties of this office 
he fulfilled with a degree of efliciency and fidelity that 
made his name known throughout that county and his 
own, and caased him to take immediate rank with his 
elders at the bar. 

In 1826 he was the candidate of the " Old Court Party" 
for the office of Representative from his county in the 
State Legislature. From the time that the question at 
issue between the Old Court and the New Court Parties 
had been an absorbing one in the State, a large majority 
of the voters of Hardin county had been attached to the 
latter. The study which he had bestowed upon the sub- 
ject during the previous year gave him a great advan- 
tage over his competitor in this canvass, and he secured 
his election without difficulty. In the session of the 
Legislature which followed, he made his influence felt 
in ])utting to rest a question which had excited most 
bitter antagonisms all over the State. 

In 1830, at Bardstown, Kentucky, John L. Helm was 
united in marriage with Lucinda B. Hardin, the eldest 
daughter of the Hon. Ben. Hardin, of that place. The 
courtship between the two was a long one. He had met 
her accidentally seven years before, and from the first 
had perseveringly laid siege to her heart. It is not for us 
to inquire why she remained so long obdurate. It suffices 
to know that she relented at last, and that a better and a 
truer wife than she afterwards proved never gave cheer 
and comfort to a fond husband's heart. 

Absorbed daring the greater part of his life by pro- 
fessional and official duties, Governor Helm intrusted to 



John L. Helm. 25 

his wife the entire control of their children and all domes- 
tic affairs. He soon learned to depend upon her judg- 
ment; and whatever she said or did in connection with 
the education and training of their children was con- 
sidered by him the best that could be said or done under 
the circumstances. The winter after his marriage, Mr. 
Helm removed from the country, in the Nolynn neighbor- 
hood, where he had been, residing with his mother, into 
Elizabethtown. On the second day of June, 1831, his 
first child was born at Bai'dstown, Kentucky, whither 
Mrs. Helm had gone in order to be with her own mother 
during her confinement. This child was a son, to whom 
was given the name of his matei-nal grandfather, Ben. 
Hardin.* 

Mr. Helm was, for a second time, returned to the Lower 
House of the Legislature in 1828; and only a few days 
before the date of his marriage, he was elected to the 
same otfice for the session of 1830-31. At that day there 

•■■"Mrs. IIei.m bore to her husbaPid twelve children, viz: Ben. Hardin Helm, 
educated at West Point, afterwards a lawyer of high standing, practicing at 
the Louisville bar, and finally a Brigadier General in the Confederate service, 
who fell at the battle of Chickamauga; GeorCxE Helm studied law, and com- 
menced the practice at Memphis, Tennessee, where lie died in 1858; Lizzie 
Baubour Helm, the oldest daughter, married to the Hon. H. W. Bruce, 
formerly a member from Kentucky to the Confederate States Congress, and 
now Circuit .Judge of the Ninth Judicial District; Rebecca Jane Helm died 
in 1859; Sarah Hardin Helm, now dead, was the wife of Major Thomas 
Hays, an officer of high standing in the Confederate States service; Lucinda 
Barbour Helm,- Emily Palmer Helm, Mary Helm, John L. Helm (born, as 
was his father, on the fourth of July), James Pendleton Helm, and Thomas 
Preston Pope Helm, are all unmarried, and reside with their mother at the 
old Helm Place. One child died in its infancy. 

Never was mother more devotedly loved — more thoroughly confided in 
by her children — than was and is iM rs. Governor Helm. Inheriting, in a 
high degree, the intellectual gifts of her distinguished father, and possessing 
with these a true woman's affection for her children, she has ruled her 
household with a sway that was neither too harsh nor too indulgent, but in 
which was judiciously blended the forces of a mind that was prompt to 
distinguish every peculiarity of disposition in her children, and of a heart 
whose strong affection for them, made perceptible to their understandings, 
proved their greatest incentive to walk uprightly in her sight. 



26 John L. Helm. 

were few aspirants after official position, in any portion 
of the State, that were more intelligent canvassers among 
the people than was John L. Helm. From early boyhood, 
he had been noted for his physical strength and his great 
powers of endurance. In the severe exercises of jump- 
ing, wrestling, and racing, there "v^^as not his match to be 
found in the whole county. He was a good hunter, too, 
and seldom found himself surpassed as a marksman. 
These were all appreciable accomplishments in a com- 
munity for the most part composed of unpretending 
farmers, few amongst whom were more than superficially 
educated, and none at all inclined to exclusiveness on 
account of any thing they possessed beyond their fellows. 

Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Helm removed from the 
country, in the Nolynn neighborhood, where he had been 
residing with his mother, into Elizabethtown, the county 
town of Hardin. He remained in the town, however, 
but a single year, when, having succeeded in redeeming 
from his uncle, Benjamin Helm, his father's inheritance, he 
took up his abode upon his ancestral acres at Helm Place, 
then called Helm Station, where he continued to reside 
for the remainder of his life.* 

Mr. Helm continued to represent the people of Hardin 
county in the State Legislature, during each consecutive 
session of that body, up to the year 1838. He was elected 
Speaker of the House in 1835, and again in 1836. In the 
spring of 1838, at the earnest solicitations of his fellow- 
citizens of the county, he announced himself, in the 
interests of the Whig party, a candidate for the office of 
Representative from the District to the Federal Congress. 
He had tM'o competitors in the race, one of whom, Mr. 

■•'■'For more than eight years the laie Governor occupied the house, opposite 
to the old Fort, in which his grandfather and father had resided. Immedi- 
ately after removing to the place in 1832, he laid the foundations of a 
commodious residence; but it was only after an interval of eight years that 
it was ready for occupancy. Here he aftervrards lived, and here his death 
took place in 1867. 



John L. Helm. 27 



IImff, was from his own county, and the other, the late 
Hon. Willis Green,* was a noted politician from the 
county of Breckinridge. The district was largely Whig' 
in political sentiment, as was shown by the slim vote 
given to Mr. Huff, the Democratic candidate, at the 
August election. The interest in the race was confined 
to the friends of the Whig competitors, Messrs. Helm and 
Green, and a more warmly prosecuted canvass never 
engaged the attention of the voters of the district. Of 
all the public men of Kentucky at the time, there was 
not one that was more practiced in the ways and means 
of securing a political triumph than Willis Green. In 
natural mental gifts he was not the equal of Helm, but 
he was his superior in that knowledge which can be made 
effective in a canvass among the people. Helm was 
beaten in the race by a trilling majority, and he never 
afterwards aspired to any oflice that was national in its 
character. 

In 1839 Mr. Helm was returned, for the ninth time, to 
the House of Representatives of Kentucky, where he was 
again elected Speaker. A better presiding officer never 
sat in the Speaker's chair. Together with a thorough 
knowledge of the rules governing the daily proceedings 
of the House, he possessed a clear understanding of what 
was due to the dignity of a deliberative assembly met to- 
gether for grave objects, as well as a suavity of manner 
which went far toward rendering the sessions both pleas- 
ant and orderly. It must not be supposed that, because 
of his position of Chairman, he took no part in the many 
interesting questions which were, from time to time, 
brought up for consideration. On all matters of peculiar 

*The Hon. Willis Greei\ was a Kentuckian by birth and a lawyer of 
disiiiiclion. He resided for many years in Shelby county, where he married 
a Miss Allan. When first elerted to Congress, in whicli body he served for 
six years (from 1839 to 1845), he lived in Breckinridge count}'. He went to 
Texas for the benefit of bis health in 1858, where he died aliout the com- 
meucement of the late civil war. 



28 John L. Helm. 

interest, whether they referred to the State at large or 
only to his own constituency, he was in the habit of 
vacating the chair in order to present, from the floor of 
the House, the results of his own experience, observation, 
and study, before the people's representatives. 

Govei-nor Helm cannot be said to have been a finished 
orator; but few men had greater power than he to arrest 
and fix the attention of his hearers. His voice was full, 
rounded, and sonorous. He had a suflicient command of 
language to express his thoughts with clearness and per- 
spicuity ; and though his address was not precisely court- 
ly, it was both easy and natural. He was more of a 
logician than a declaimer ; and yet, at times, when he be- 
came impassioned in debate, he could be truly eloquent. 

When speaking before a deliberative body, such as the 
Kentucky State Senate or the House of Representatives, 
he was always careful to preserve the proprieties of the 
occasion most scrupulously. He appeared to feel that 
there was due to the body whom he addressed that full 
measure of courtesy in demeanor and language which not 
even great provocation should be permitted to lessen or 
destroy. It was not so when he mounted the "stump" to 
address his fellow-citizens in the many canvasses in which 
he took part. He never waited for the attack, but, with 
all the energies of a mind fully convinced that his political 
antagonists "deserved no quarter at his hands, he seized 
every opportunity to crush and destroy their prospects 
before the people. At one time he would submit their 
political faith to the test of his extraordinary reasoning 
powers; at another, he would ridicule their pretensions 
and satirize their principles ; and, at still another, he 
would let fall on their luckless heads, pitilessly and re- 
morselessly, the vials of his wrathful invective. 

Governor Helm truly loved his country, and he as truly 
hated her enemies. He had firm faith in the wisdom that 
had conceived the organic law, and he seemed to feel to- 



John L. Helm. 29 



ward all tamperers with the Constitution a measure of 
repui^nance that was illimitable. Ardent and impulsive 
by nature, it may well be conceived that his language, 
when speaking of those whose policy he condemned as 
subversive of the best interests of the country, was often 
more characterized by severity than prudence. He was 
of a class of men that pi'cfer to sutler on account of their 
open advocacy of preconceived ideas, rather than to earn 
a position of mere sufferance from their fellows, together 
with self-condemnation, through a system of discreet si- 
lence. 

With an interval of two years, Mr. Helm continued to 
represent the people of Hardin county in the Lower House 
of the Legislature up to the year 1844, when he was 
returned to the State Senate from the district. He held 
this position until he was elected Lieutenant Governor 
on the ticket headed by the Hon. John J. Crittenden, in 
1848. 

As early as the year 1830, and at almost every meeting 
of the Legislature from that time up to the year 1848, 
the question of calling a Convention to form a new Con- 
stitution for the State had been brought before the peo- 
ple's representatives and fully discussed. The old State 
Constitution, though it had long been regarded as defec- 
tive in some minor particulars, was acknowledged on all 
hands to be, in other and more important respects, a 
monument of the wisdom of its framers. A large num- 
ber of the most respected and highly influential of the 
public men of Kentucky were opposed to the idea of 
tampering with an instrument under which the people 
of the State had reaped so full a measure of prosperity 
and happiness. Others were urgent in their endeavors 
to have a Convention held in order that the minor defects 
to which w^e have referred might be eliminated from the 
organic law. The contest between the two parties thus 
formed in the Commonwealth culminated in the passage 



30 John L. Helm. 



of a bill in the se^^f^ion of the Legislature of 1847-8, by 
which the whole matter was directly referred to the peo- 
ple. Governor Helm was a member at the time from 
Hardin county in the House of Representatives, and his 
vote was recorded in favor of the passage of the bill. 

Immediately preceding the election of August, 1848, 
when the question of holding a Convention was to be 
tested by the popular vote, Mr. Helm published an ad- 
dress to his constituents explanatory of the vote he had 
given, in which he laid before them an entirely candid 
synopsis of the arguments adduced during the debate in 
the Legislature, both by the advocates of the bill and 
those who opposed its passage. He thought the people 
were entirely capable of deciding; for themselves whether 
any necessity existed for holding a Convention. He knew 
that there were defects in the Constitution ; but as to 
how far a Convention would succeed in weeding the in- 
strument of these acknowledged defects, and whether 
their agents might not introduce into the organic law 
provisions that were absolutely evil or of doul)tful pro- 
priety, would depend entirely upon the wisdom and in- 
tegrity of those selected to carry out the contemplated 
reform. For himself, he thought the old Constitution 
defective in these particulars : 

First. It was defectivt; in securing uniform and equal 
representation in the Legislative Department of the Gov- 
ei-nment. 

Second. It was defective in its definitions in regard to 
succession in cases where the administrative officers of 
the government died in office, resigned their offices, or 
were removed from them for cause. 

T'liird. It was defective in its provisions in regard to 
the appointment of county justic(>s and sheriffs. 

Foui-th. In requiring yearly elections of members of the 
Legislature and yearly sessions of the General Assembly 
of the State, it imposed a puV)lic expense for which the 
people received no adequate compensation. 



John L. Helm. 31 



Fifth. That provision of the Constitution which regu- 
lated the tenure of office of the Circuit Court and the 
Appellate Court Judges was calculated to gradually foist 
upon the State an incompetent Judiciary. 

The late Governor's notions on the subject of the judi- 
ciary will be found of practical value, even at the present 
time. He tells us that there were in 1848 three distinct 
parties in the State, each holding views adverse to the 
others on the subject of the Judiciary, viz: One for a 
Judiciary holding office dui-ing good behavior ; one dur- 
ing good behavior for a limited term of years, and one 
for an elective Judiciary.* He thought at the time the 
Government was founded, the "tenure of good behav- 
ior" provision had been adopted on account of its having 
Avorked well in the administration of law in Gr(>at Britain ; 
but that no necessity exists here, where the sovereignty is 
with the people, for any such provision. He continued as 
follows : 

" It seems to be feared that those who favored the 
passage of the Convention bill were for an elective 
Judiciary. I can say, for one, I am in the most unqual- 
ified and uncompromising terms opposed to it. Nor did 

•■■The Judiciary Department of a Government ought to be its chief bul- 
wark against disorder and dissolution. Its entire independence is a neces- 
sary ingredient of its efficiency. Place over it a higher authority in the 
Government, and you at once shackle its freedom, and place it under the 
heel of despots. Make it subservient to the popular will iu the field of party 
strife, and you cannot avert the danger of its becoming prostituted to pur- 
poses foreign to the design of its creation. To the writer, it has always 
appeared one of the saddest evidences of our failure to appreciate the iiigh 
destiny foretold for the nation, when he beholds a would-be Justice perched 
upon the stump, descanting on political issues, and sulicitiag the votes of 
his hearers on the grounds of his political ortliodoxy, and nnr for reasons 
that have any affinity with the high office whicli is the object of his as[)ira- 
tions. The grand idea of the sacred character of the Judge's office, which 
has been so familiar to ns all since the formation of the Government, is fast 
losing its hold on our minds, through the belittling effects of the law as it 
stands, by which the Judiciary is leveled to a standard not oue whit above 
that of a partisan scramble after position. 



32 John L. Helm. 



I hear one single gentleman who voted for the bill 
express such as his sentiments. There are many reasons 
why the Judiciary should not be elective, and why there 
should exist a difference between their mode of appoint- 
ment and the other Departments of the Government. 
It is the province of the Legislative and the Executive 
Departments to act upon such subjects as bear alike 
upon the whole community. But it is the province of 
the Judiciary to decide upon individual right; and to 
expound the laws which determine the life, liberty, and 
property of the citizen. To place a Judge in the polit- 
ical arena, where he may contract prejudices and par- 
tialities, you make him more or less subservient to the 
wealthy and influential citizens, to the prejudice of the 
poor, the unknown, and the indigent. The scales should 
be poised with a steady and even hand, and Justice 
administered blind to its objects. An elective Judiciary 
would certainly be at war with what time and experience 
have proved to be political wisdom. 

" I am for an independent Judiciary ; but not so inde- 
pendent as to be placed beyond just responsibility. I 
think experience has clearly demonstrated that the ten- 
ure of good behavior is equal to a term for life. I am 
for good behavior for a limited term of years — say seven 
or ten — when the Judge should come back to the ap- 
pointing power, that he might have an opportunity of 
inquiring whether all is well, antecedent to a reappoint- 
ment. I am inclined to believe it would have a happy 
effect upon the officers of the Judicial Department, if you 
would fix a day to which they would look forward as a 
day of trial and examination : that they might say to 
themselves on that day, the manner in which I have 
discharged my public duty is to be brought in view; I 
must rely upon the qualifications of my head and heart 
for my reappointment." 



John L. Helm. 33 



The popular vote was largrly in favor of holding a 
Convention, and in August, 1849, an election was held, 
in pursuance of an act of the General Assembly, ap- 
proved January 13th, 1849, for delegates to the same. 
The Convention met in October of the same year, and 
continued its sittings, from day to day, until it had 
finished its work. By a provision of the new Constitu- 
tion itself, that instrument was to be submitted to the 
people for their approval at the general election to be 
held in May, 1850, before being declared the organic 
law of the State. Many eminent men throughout the 
Commonwealth were greatly dissatisfied with the action 
of the Convention. Among the most prominent of these 
was Governor Helm, who was then Lieutenant Governor 
of the State, and the presiding officer of the Senate. At 
an early day of the session of the General Assembly of 
the Commonwealth in 1850, a bill was offered in the 
Senate, by Mr. George W. Triplett, to postpone the vote 
on the new Constitution until the August election of 1850. 
One of the most masterly speeches ever delivered bv 
Governor Helm was made on this occasion in favor of 
the bill, and in condemnation of the new Constitution. 
The great importance of the questions debated, which 
we consider fully as important now as they were then, 
induces us to quote freely from this speech. Addressing 
the Senate, Mr. Helai is reported to have said : 

"Mr. Chairman: I address the Senate to discharge a 
duty which I owe to myself and feel that I owe to my 
country. I am aware that I place myself in an attitude 
to become the subject of assault, if not bitter vitupera- 
tion. We live in a community too prone to censure the 
acts of public men. 

*' I propose to review the instrument submitted to be- 
come the Constitution of the State upon the ratification 
of the people. I wish to put the machinery to work, and 
invite attention to its practical operations. 
3 



34 John L. Helm. 



" No man in Kentucky has written more and spoken 
more than 1 have, with a view to press upon the country 
the importance of organic reform. I presided at every 
assemblage held in Frankfort, having for its object the 
organization of a party for reform. I drafted the greater 
part of the manifesto of the party. In the advocacy of 
those principles we entered the field and M'on the two 
important battles, without which, victory M'ould not have 
crowned our efforts. Under its auspices there seems to 
have been embodied a force of public opinion threatening 
to sweep down all that stands in its way. Were I to look 
to myself alone, and consult the probable results of a 
single day, selfish policy would dictate a quiet submission 
to the things that are. Every personal motive would 
prompt such a course. In addition to my own position, 
I stand connected by a tie of relationship to one whom 
public opinion regarded as the master-spirit of the Con- 
vention — one whom I have loved as a father, and to grati- 
fy whose wishes has ever been my anxious desire.* But 1 
have a public duty to perform, and I have determined to 
perform it, and abide the consequences. It is said I have 
planned my own destruction. Sir, if that storm of public 
opinion with which gentlemen threaten me was now 
placed before me in its most frightful form, with a full con- 
sciousness of its desolating blast, I would look it in its 
very face, and speak what I thought. He who shall shiver 
as a reed in the wind, at a crisis full of importance to the 
State, is a faithless public sentinel. I was for reform, and 
not for revolution. I was for amending the Constitution, 
and not for obliterating every vital principle which it con- 
tained. I was not without my fears that, by a combina- 
tion of political results, the people might be driven to 



* Reference is here made to the Hon. Ben. Hardin, Governor Helm's 
father-in-law. The course taken by Mr. Helm on this occasion caused 
an estrangement between the two, which was only healed when Mr. HArtDiu 
lay on his death-bed 



John L. Helm. 35 



extremes. I had hoped public opinion had determined 
upon two modes of escape : one, to leave the way open 
and easy, should expci-ience teach us that we were wrong; 
the other, that the work of the Convention would be sub- 
mitted to the people for their ratification. In the latter, I 
thought it was implied that time would be allowed to 
read, to hear discussed, and calmly consider the change, 
and act with a deliberation commensurate with the im- 
portance of the occasion ; that, as we had begun by pro- 
claiming the question as above pai-ty, so we would con- 
sider the instrument independent of and above party, and 
by its intrinsic merits as an organic law pronounce judg- 
ment for or against it. I had supposed submission had 
for its purpose something more than an idle ceremony. 

" I approve much that is in this instrument, and I heart- 
ily condemn much. I am fully aware of the difficulty of 
forming any human instrument perfect. Nor do I feel 
disposed to be carried away by captious objections. In- 
vestigation is the handmaid of truth. I struck boldly at 
the old Constitution, and for my boldness received the 
Herculean blows of some of the most distinguished actors 
in the formation of the present Constitution. Standing, 
as I do, identified with the present state of things, 1 will 
be bold to call the attention of the people to such por- 
tions of the new as I think wrong, relying that the evil 
and the good will be weighed by them, and to their de- 
cision I will bow. If I had signed that instrument, I 
would do what I now propose to do. If my work could 
not bear the test of investigation by comparison with that 
which I sought to amend, no dogged stubbornness or pride 
of authorship could induce me to fasten upon the people 
a form of government which would not promote their wel- 
fare. If we meet in the field of fair argument and free 
discussion, by which the defects of the instrument are 
made known to the people, and knowing them they adopt, 
there will be none to censure. 



36 John L, Helm. 



"The crude and undigested form of this Constitution 
must be perceived by all. It is freely admitted by its 
authors and friends. I state a fact with no view to reflec- 
tion, but as a substantive fact well w^orth the consideration 
of the people in deciding this great question, and in justi- 
fication of myself in calling attention to its errors. 
*#*********■ 

"* Section 36. No act of the General Assem.bly shall 
authorize any debt to be contracted on behalf of the 
Commonwealth, except for the purposes mentioned in 
the thirty-fifth section of this article, unless provision be 
made therein to lay and collect an annual tax sufficient 
to pay the interest stipulated, and to discharge the debt 
within thirty years; nor shall such act take effect until 
it shall have been submitted to the people at a general 
election, and shall have received a majority of all the 
votes cast for and against it : Prodded, That the General 
Assembly may contract debts withovit submission to the 
people, by borrowing money to pay any part of the pub- 
lic debt of the State, and without making provision in 
the act authorizing the same for a tax to discharge the 
debt so contracted, or the interest thereon.' 

"If it was intended to grant a power to be exercised^ 
it should have been done without such restrictions as 
would render it wholly inoperative. The section pur- 
ports to be a grant of power to borrow^ money, doubtless 
with reference to internal improvement ; but the power 
cannot be exercised without the bill which authorizes the 
loan couples with it a provision for the yeai'ly payment 
of the interest and principal of the sum borrowed in 
thirty years. The two things are to be inseparably con- 
nected — they must start together and run their course 
together — one power cannot be exercised without the 
other. It would be a perversion of the spirit of the 
Constitution to repeal or supersede the taxing part of 
the law, even by the application of other funds, or even 



John L. Helm. 37 



to appropriate the proceeds of the investment to relieve 
the people. Because the sura to be collected would be 
determined by the bill, and must of necessity be equal to 
the interest and the payment of such portion of the prin- 
cipal as would, by a yearly application, extinguish the 
principal in thirty years. If the loan could not be made 
with such terms of payment, then you would be engaged 
in raising, by yearly installments, an amount sufficient 
to pay the principal at the end of thirty years. A propo- 
sition so ridiculous would hardly be carried into execu- 
tion. 

" I was for limiting the power of any one Legislature 
to create a debt. Thus, if any one Legislature went to 
its limit, the people through their representatives could 
control the action of the next. If it was thought proi)er 
to consult the public will at the ballot-box, would it not 
have been sufficient to express in the bill the amount and 
objects of the appropriation? Submit it to the people 
and leave them to determine their own mode of pay- 
ment. Is it right for an organic law to attempt to regu- 
late the policy of the State for forty or fifty years to 
come ? 

" I am aware that public improvements by the force of 
public opinion had received a quietus for the present. 
That is right. Much of the public money had not a wise 
direction, and it was right to suspend until time would 
allow a wise revision. I am free to confess I have been 
a participant in the good and the evil which liow from it. 
To improve a country with a view to the development 
of its wealth and resources has challenged the consid- 
eration and approval of the wise men of every age, and 
is now the settled policy of all civilized communities. 
Kentucky has wealth in the bowels of her mountains — 
her coal, her minerals, and her salines. Her vast forests 
stand ready to bow subservient to the mechanic and 
laborer. 1 have stood here upon the floor of this Capitol, 



38 John L. Helm. 



and seen, with a self-sacrificing love of country, the 
Representatives of the mountains voting to improve the 
centre of the State by such works as pointed to their 
country, giving promise that there was a bright future 
for them. But now that the centre have most that they 
want, the doors are closed against the prospect of the 
mountains. Rivers half improved — the natural naviga- 
tion locked up — burthens imposed by an incomplete mode 
of transportation — in other sections roads half finished — 
one hour in the mud, the next on a patched turnpike, 
paying full toll for half a load. So stands the face of 
the country. Not one dollar of the proceeds arising 
from the money paid by those engaged in the transporta- 
tion of the productions of the soil is allowed by this 
Constitution to be appropriated to ease their burthens, 
or facilitate the means of transportation by completing 
the road. All this is done to relieve those who may live 
after us in the next five and twenty years. We bear 
these burthens the better to relieve and provide for our 
children and grandchildren. Will the community stand 
it? Can the arm of industry be thus paralyzed? The 
community will be driven to seek relief in some form. 
That form will be by grants to private incorporations to 
construct railroads, and probably followed by ceding to 
companies the navigation of your rivers upon the bonus 
of completion. Thus will the people, driven to this ex- 
treme, be compelled to cede away the sovereign power 
until the combined influence of corporations will be 
enabled to control the policy of the State, and the peo- 
ple made to pay the tribute. Trade and commerce must 
and will go on — it cannot be arrested. One of two 
results is inevitable — the State will be compelled to cede 
to individuals the interest she has to secure the comple- 
tion of her works, or she will be compelled to grant 
incorporations to aid in the carrying trade, which will 
supersede her own works costing five millions, and leave 



John L. Helm. 39 



them in a dilapidated state, unworthy of use. By such 
means, too, the resources of the Sinking Fund may be 
wasted away. 

" Bat what do we behold around us? Our sister States 
vieing with each other in a race of improvement leading 
their citizens on to wealth and greatness. By bars of 
iron, laid by the strong arm of sovereign power, they 
seek to bind our happy Union together. To facilitate 
social intercourse, and by a commerce promising recip- 
rocal advantages, they seek to supply the wants of each 
other by an exchange of commodities peculiar to our 
variegated soil and climate. In this great march to 
glory, and the consummation of freedom, where stands 
Kentucky? She who, by her geographical position, and 
no less by the soul-stirring chivalry of her citizens, stands 
as the heart of the Confederacy, and, by her noble pulsa- 
tions, should thi'ow the vital fluid to the extremities, is 
suddenly converted into an iceburg, coldly defying pene- 
tration." 

Ilis remarks touching the .Judiciary System of the State 
will be found most pertinent : 

"It is due to candor to say, that the organization of 
the Judiciary System under this Constitution constitutes, 
wdth me, an insurmountable objection. To destroy the 
independence of the Judiciary is to sap the foundation 
of civil liberty. To maintain the independence of that 
Department of Government has been the subject of 
inquiry and the anxious desire of civilized nations. For 
the want of such a department in Governments, history 
is filled with scenes of individual oppression. Read the 
history of those Governments where such a department 
was unknown, and the heart sickens in the very comtem- 
plation of the scenes of oppression falling upon the weak 
and the powerless. Man's war upon man constitutes one 
of the most prominent features in the history of the world. 
We are taught by divine authority that man is as prone to 



40 John L. Helm. 



evil as the sparks are to fly upward. By the wisdom of 
the Lord's prayer we are taught that man should not be 
led into temptation. Man is a compound of good and 
evil ; he has frailties, he has passions, and he has preju- 
dices ; he loves, admires, and hates; he has affections, 
and, by individual associations, he acquires partialities. 
It is the instinct of om- nature to love those who manifest 
love for us. He who refuses to return favor for favor is 
regarded as a bad neighbor. If there is any one general 
principle which more closely connects itself with the 
operations of our Government than another, it is that of 
returning favors for the bestowal of the right of suffrage. 
The passions of men sleep in their bosoms, until aroused 
into action by some exciting cause, and then waste their 
fury upon some living object. I appeal to the experience 
and judgments of men, if there is any one thing in life 
better calculated to make men hate and love each other 
than the exciting scenes of a popular canvass. An inde- 
pendent judge is one who presides with a perfect con- 
sciousness that he whose cause he is about to try has no 
power to punish or to reward — that he can neither give 
or take away his power. Free to think and free to act, 
he poises the scale of justice, blind to those whose rights 
throw the balancing beam. To effect this great purpose, 
our fathers wisely conceived the plan of a division of 
powers into separate departments, that they should oper- 
ate as mutual checks and balances. Founded in confi- 
dence and jealousy, our Government is wisely arranged 
to learn and to execute the public will, and to guard 
against its errors, and shield the persons of individuals 
from oppression. Is not this structure of Government 
founded upon the very belief of the absolute necessity to 
guard man against man ? This very Constitution pro- 
claims that absolute arbitrary power over the lives, liberty, 
and property of freemen, exists nowhere in a i-epublic — 
nut even in the largest majority. Where is the sovereign 



John L. Helm. 41 



power here? Is it not in the people? How is it exer- 
cised ? By the declared voice of a majority. Are we 
blind to the fact that that majority is the result of the 
action of certain prominent men or produced by some 
exciting cause which, for the time, dethrones reason, and 
lets angry passion control the storm? Has man in this 
day stripped himself of selfish motives? It is then the 
majority who gives to the judge his power. It is the 
majority, under the principle of re-electing judges, that 
can again give or take away, and may regulate the salary 
of a coming term. Do we not attempt to deceive our- 
selves, when we are betrayed into an argument that men, 
when canvassing for popular favor foi- judgeships, will 
be better and purer men than when canvassing -for other 
offices? ]Man is man, and his nature the same. Do we 
not break the f< rc 3 of a representative government when 
we bestow upon an officer an office by popular suffrage, 
and at the same time tell him he is independent of the 
public will? Can it be possible that men are so blinded 
by momentary infatuation as to reject the lessons of 
experience of ages ? Are we prepared to wipe away the 
landmarks of our revolutionary fathers, and at once pre- 
cipitate ourselves upon a field of untried experiment? It 
seems to be understood as a fact, which should startle the 
community, that a majority of this Convention of wise 
men, combining those opposed to the election and re- 
election of judges, entertained the opinion that the prin- 
ciple was wrong, but yielded their own opinions and 
executed those of their constituents. The wise men 
thought it wrong, but thought it right to execute a 
wrong to satisfy the public opinion. 

" The Constitution bears upon its face intrinsic evi- 
dence of a distrust of the correctness of the principle. 
The Appellate Judges, whose duty it is to decide causes 
from every part of the State, are elected by four districts, 
so that there may be a majority on the bench that three 



42 John L. Helm. 

fourths of the people had not voted for. The restriction 
as to age and practice, the separation of the judicial 
from the other elections, and the desire by some to have 
them elected by ballot, are all evidence that there rest- 
ed in the minds of the framers of the Constitution a 
M^ell-founded apprehension. They have sought to guard 
against the mal-influences of their own system through 
the means of those contrivances. If they should fail, 
then all the evil consequences follow. 

"My very humble political history commenced at the 
close of that storm of party which aimed to strike down 
the Judiciary in Kentucky. Impressions were then made 
upon my mind which I cannot clear myself of. My im- 
agination, in spite of me, will be haunted by the belief 
that by some great revulsion in trade, when the people 
shall be made to feel a pressure, a storm can be raised 
by the popular declaimer which will sweep all before it ; 
and he who holds his office by virtue of the popular 
will, must and will yield to its influence. All powers 
will be amalgamated and directed by the popular will. 
There will be no power left with the firmness to resist 
the storm until a calm will restore reason and preserve 
private right. 

" Pecuniary storms may not be the only ones disturbing 
the popular elements. Other rights may sooner or later 
be involved, and those who now seek to compromise con- 
flicting interests or prejudices may be made to feel the 
importance of an independent Judiciary. 

"1 cannot elaborate this subject. I must be permitted 
to avail myself of the opinions of gentlemen who, by 
their positions as members of the Convention, have some 
hold upon the public confidence. 

" Wedded, as I have been, to reform — -painful as it is to 
me to turn away from my old friends — I am bound by 
every consideration which ought to regulate the conduct 
of a statesman and a gentleman to withhold my assent. 



John L. Helm. 43 

I entered the field a firm opponent of an elective Judi- 
ciary. I feel that I was pledged before the country and 
my honor involved in that pledge. I thought then it was 
wrong — I think so now, and am still more firmly con- 
vinced, that by the shortness of the term and the re-eligi- 
bility of the Judges, every vestige of the independence 
of the Judiciary will sooner or later be swept away — that 
the Judiciary is doomed to become a part and parcel of 
the political machinery of the day — made to serve the 
pnrposes of party men — a reward to the faithful — a ma- 
chine in the hands of the wealth and power of the coun- 
try to grind to dust the feeble, the powerless, and the 
poor man. I can see nothing in this Constitution which 
promises good to counterbalance the efil to flow from 
such a Judiciary. What price can be put upon, or what 
exchange can be made in the nature of compi-omise, for 
the surrender of the great principle of an impartial ad- 
ministration of justice? With such opinions — and that 
I have them, I call Heaven to witness — where would be 
my honor — where my own self respect — -if to serve my- 
self I surrender them? Let honors and profit pass away, 
I must preserve my honor." 

Governor Helm appears to have had a clear percep- 
tion of the evils that have since grown out of that pro- 
vision of the new Constitution by which so many minor 
oflicers in the Commonwealth were declared elective. 
The following is a graphic picture of what takes place 
at every election for State, city, and county oflicers : 

"livery officer in the State is to be elected. State and 
county, except the Secretary of State. Let each man 
look over the list, and he will find it will amount to quite, 
if not over, four thousand in the State. If there should 
be an average of three competitors for each office, it will 
bring into the field an array of twelve thousand seekers 
for office. Let each man tax his mind for a moment, to 
sum up all the consequences growing out of this immense 



44 John L. Helm. 

body of men moving for office. May not the people be 
brought to the point of exclaiming, in the language of the 
Declaration of Independence, ' there has been s*ent hither 
a swarm of officers, to harass us and eat out our sub- 
stance ! '* In the great multiplicity of officers, counting 
deaths, resignations, and removals, will not some portion 
of the people be at all times engaged in elections? What 
a tax upon the labor of the country ! I take it for granted 
that county and district vacancies will be filled by a re- 
election, since the convention provided no mode for filling 
vacancies, even for a day, beyond pro tcm. appointments, 
except in the last year of a Circuit Judge. Four elected 
Judges of the Court of Appeals are not permitted to fill 
the remnant of Vi term of even six months of a Clerk of 
the Court of Appeals. A writ of election must go forth, 
and one hundred and fifty thousand men called into the 

* The statements of these paragraphs will be viewed as almost prophetic. 

The swarms of office-seekers with which the whole land is cursed is, one of 

the saddest evidences of the decline of our people- from the high patriotic 

standard of the fathers. Politics — especially local politics— has got to be a 

trade, in wiiicii sharpness and cunning are much more regarded than probity 

and competency. Men who are too lazy to work, and whose incompetency 

in the management of their own private affairs is proverbial among their 

accjuaintance, strangely enough imagine themselves fitted, in all particulars, 

to discharge the duties of any office that is within the gift of the people. 

" Ijook after your Till, was the rule 'till of late. 
But now, 'tis — look after the Till of the State." 

It has long been conceded that the two great prerequisites to success in an 
election before the people, now a-days. so fiir, at least, as the remunerative 
offices are concerned, are money and assurance. The office no longer seeks 
the man, but crowds of men are seeking after the offices. The vei'y system 
which Governor Helm feared for the integrity of the franchise has long con- 
trolled all our elections. Political sharpers and wire-pullers make calls for 
primaiy conventions, and these conventions are most generally so hocussed in 
their hands as to be made mere machines to work out their wills. Or, two 
sets of such schemers, the one not one whit more to be trusted tliun the 
other, make a fight, in these primary conventions, over the nominations, and 
whether the one clique surceeds or the other, the candidates are foisted on 
the people as the veritable choice of the party, though not one in ten that 
belong to it know anything about their fitness for the places to which they 
aspire, and though nine out of ten of them would prefer other men and 
men that are better known. 



John L. Helm. 45 



field to elect a clerk for six months. Canying out the 
same principle, the Legislature must establish the same 
rule in regard to Treasurer, Auditor, Register, Attorney 
General, President of the Board of Internal Improvement, 
and Superintendent of Public Instruction. Is there not 
danger to be apprehended that the frequency with which 
the people may be called to the polls, and the scenes at- 
tending elections — too familiar to all — may at last disgust 
the people themselves, and render them indifferent to the 
exercise of the elective franchise? Will not the business 
and substantial men of the country retreat from it, and 
give up the elections entirely to thost^ who seek for office 
for sake of employment? Imagine an unlettered man 
pressing to the polls to make choice among some fifty or 
sixty candidates for the various offices, with some friend 
of an aspirant at his elbow to tell over a long list of 
names, 

"Will not this result in fixing as the permanent order 
of things a system of caucusing? By that system, the 
Government will be thrown into the hands of, and con- 
trolled by, the active and vigilant otfice-seekers. The 
mass of the people will have little else to do than go to 
the polls and register the edicts of a caucus. The great 
question as to who shall be President is to absorb all 
others. The parties will be driven, by concentrated ac- 
tion, to present their candidates, and we will come to 
the polls and vote the partisan ticket by its name. The 
motto M'ill be, Uo the victors belong the spoils-.'' Thus is 
there to be a perpetual struggle for power and the 
emoluments of office. The policy of the State will be 
lost sight of, and each man's qualification will be tested 
by his opinions upon some national question. Can there 
be imagined a more irresponsible and corrupting mode 
of managing a government than that of a system of 
caucusing? It has a tendency to destroy freedom of 
thought, freedom of action, and freedom of speech. To 



46 John L. Helm. 



my mind, the very freedom of our institutions depend 
upon breaking the force of any state of things which 
has a tendency to stifle that open and manly mode of 
talking, thinking, and acting, without the dread of pun- 
ishment or hope of reward, which has hitherto marked 
the coarse of our people. I was for extending the power 
to elect officers to that point at which the mass of the 
people, by personal intercourse, had an opportunity of 
knowing the fitness and qualifications for the office 
sought by the candidate. But is it not surprising, when 
we recur to the provisions of this Constitution, that its 
most distinctive features are its crimination and the re- 
duction of the powers of those officers who have been 
elected? The Governor is stripped of his power, and 
against that officer the heaviest battery of this Conven- 
tion has been played. The Legislature is stripped of 
almost every power worth reserving. The interval be- 
tween its sessions is doubled, and it is not permitted to 
judge for itself as to the time necessary to the comple- 
tion of its business. Is it not a strange state of public 
opinion to ci-y out, in one voice, extend the right of 
suffrage, for in that our liberty consists, and in the next 
moment demand that elective officers be stripped of their 
powers because they have been faithless to their trust? 
But what man has complained that the laws have not 
been faithfully expounded ? Yet the Judges, against whom 
the least of all complaints have been made, are to be 
made elective, whilst we are stripping those heretofore 
elective of all their powers. 

Section eight of the new Constitution requires that 
every voter shall have been a resident of his precinct for 
sixty days next preceding an election. Though he may 
have been born and raised in the county, he is not per- 
mitted to vote at all, should he have removed into another 
precinct (in cities, frequently, only across the street), and 
there resided for a term less than sixty days. On this 
provision Gov. Helm thus spoke : 



John L. Helm. 47 



" I hold it to be the duty of the law-maker to afford to 
the citizen who has a clear and indisputable right to vote, 
every facility consistent with the purity of elections to 
cast his vote. No honest and well-known citizen should 
have his rig'hts restricted or denied him, because his busi- 
ness or condition shall require a change of residence, in 
order that a dishonest man may be caught in an attempt 
to transcend his right. The true principle is, catch the 
offender if you can, but do not make the punishment 
of the innocent the means of detecting the wrong-doer. 
By geographical boundaries and ideal lines subject to 
changes, you embarrass the citizen in the free exercise of 
his most invaluable right by imposing penalties for voting 
on the wrong side of a precinct line. There should be at 
least one place in a count}^ which a freeman could ap- 
proach as the alter of his liberty, and feel a consciousness 
that he does not make himself a criminal by the exercise 
of a right purchased by the blood of his fathers. That 
place should be the court-house. Under the pi-ovisions of 
this Constitution, a man may have been born in, and 
never lived out of the county until he shall have children, 
and grand and great-grand-children ; yet he cannot vote 
at the court-house, if his residence be within the boundary 
of a country precinct. He has been taxed to make it; he 
does not engage in broils with his neighbors, and there- 
fore does not use it in that way ; and yet he is denied its 
use for the sacred purpose of casting his vote. You can't 
restrain men in their business pursuits ; they must and 
will go where their business calls them. If a man be 
born and raised within a county, change his residence 
from one precinct to another, in the months of June or 
July, he forfeits his right of suffrage. Will not this 
operate peculiarly hard upon those whose condition in 
life force them to become tenants, or laborers by the day 
or by the month? The tenant may be made to shelter at 
the will of his landlord : the laborer finishes his labor in 



48 John L. Helm, * 

a crop in the months of Jano or July, yet he cannot seek 
for employment in another precinct, unless at the sacrifice 
of his right to vote. Does not this result in an advan- 
tage to those who have fixed homes? The young man 
M^ho labors for his living, the country's surest support in a 
call to arms, restrained from seeking profitable employ- 
ment when he shall have finished one contract. He who 
shall be called from home upon indispensable business, 
and interrupted by unavoidable delay, approaches one 
place of voting where he is known to all, yet as he lives 
within the boundaries of another precinct, he is turned 
away and loses his right. I can imagine an old revolu- 
tionary soldier, a pioneer of the West, who had bared his 
bosom to the stealthy savage, approach the polls in a 
county where he had resided from his earliest settlement, 
and he is turned awaj^ because he lives at home, or with 
some child in another precinct. I venture to predict that 
in the various elections, regular and irregular, to fill va- 
cancies, there will be thousands disfranchised who have 
an indispensable right to vote. Is it right to punish the 
innocent as a means of detecting the rogue? Hereto- 
fore a known citizen had the right to cast his vote where- 
ever he had a known residence, if for a day only. Have 
our popular elections been hitherto conducted with so 
many marked evidences of fraud as to make this change 
necessary? The restriction is an admission of the fact 
on the part of the members of the Convention, and yet 
the popular essence of the instrument is its willingness to 
submit everything to the ballot-box, where, in their esti- 
mation, so much fraud has been perpetrated. A most 
remarkable contradiction. Flattery of virtue and intelli- 
gence on the one hand, and an imputation of fraud and 
corruption on the other. Has not enough been done by 
the Constitution in limiting the elections to a single day, 
that the balance might have been left to statutory pro- 
visions?" 



John L. Helm, 49 



The Gubernatorial canvass of 1848 was characterized 
by a greater display of individual exertion on the part of 
both the Whig and the Democratic candidates than had 
been witnessed in any previous election for many years. 
The late Governor Powell headed the Democratic ticket, 
and his great personal popularity rendered him an oppo- 
nent that was by no means to be despised, even when con- 
fronted by such a man as John J. Crittenden. Mr. Helm, 
who had been placed on the ticket with Mr. Crittenden 
for the second office in the gift of the people, made a 
thorough canvass of the State. It was the first time that 
he had had occasion to address his fellow-citizens outside 
of his own Congressional district, and, immediately after 
receiving his nomination, he addressed himself to the 
business before him with the determination of a man who 
knew what he had to encounter in order to succeed in the 
canvass. In every quarter of the State his voice was 
heard in defense of the principles and policy of his party 
and in reprobation of those of his Democratic compet- 
itors. The race was a close one, but the Whig candidates 
were elected and took their seats. 

Mr. Helm continued to fulfill the duties of Lieutenant 
Governor and President of the Senate till July 31, 1850. 
When Mr. Crittenden, having accepted from President 
Fellmore the position of Attorney General of the United 
States, resigned his office, the former was installed as 
Governor of the Commonwealth in the place of that 
eminent statesman. It is needless for us to speak of 
Gov. Helm's administration of State afiairs. Here, as in 
every position filled by him in his long public career, he 
proved himself the faithful agent of the people and the 
watchful guardian over their interests. From his only 
message to the General Assembly, delivered November 
7th, 1850, which he had occasion to present, we give be- 
low such extracts as we think are illustrative of his char- 
acter, as well as certain passages on topics that have not 
4 



50 John L, Helm. 



yet lost their interest with the general public. The mes- 
sage begins : 
" Gentlemen of the Senate and Hotise of Representatives : 

"Since the adjournment of the last General Assembly, 
the duties of the Chief Magistracy of this Commonwealth 
have devolved upon me, in consequence of the resigna- 
tion of Governor Crittenden. Governor Crittenden could 
not well be spared by Kentucky at this period, and the 
people are only reconciled to his departure by the fact 
that he has accepted a post at Washington which, though 
its duties required a resignation of the office confided to 
him by the people of Kentucky, extended the sphere of 
his action and his usefulness. Kentucky gave him up 
that he might, on another theatre than that which she 
had assigned him, devote himself to his country and the 
promotion of his country's welfare. 

" The present is an important period in the history of 
our beloved State. In the month of June last, the new- 
Constitution was proclaimed as the paramount law of 
the land. On that day, the organic law — the Constitu- 
tion under which for fifty years Kentucky had kept her 
onward march — the Constitution which for half a cen- 
tury had secured to her people all the rights of freemen, 
was done away, and a new instrument proclaimed in its 
stead. May we not have reason to congratulate' our- 
selves as a people, if fifty years hence we shall find 
ourselves as prosperous, as happy, and as contented as 
we now are ? The changes in Government made by the 
new Constitution are many — some of these changes are 
radical — yet they were made without bloodshed, without 
strife, and without disturbing the peaceful current of 
public and private business. How different the scenes 
from those which, in days past and even now, mark 
changes in government in the Old World. A handful of 
men assembled in the Representative Chamber, by a sin- 
gle dash of the pen, change the whole structure of the 



John L. Helm. 51 



Government. A"o scenes of disorder or of violence at- 
tend the proclaiming- of the new system. All is calm 
and quiet. The proclamation is made — the handful of 
men adjourn and depart for their homes. Their author- 
ity is gone — they have finished their labors, and their 
power has ceased. The new order of things begins, and 
the people move on peacefully and quietly as before. 
Such a spectacle challenges the admiration of the world. 
It teaches a lessen invaluable to the cause of freedom. 

" Differ as we may as to the propriety of many of the 
changes in the form of Government, it is our duty, and 
should be our pleasure, to acquiesce in them, and so 
direct legislation as fairly and fully to test their wisdom. 
Any factious opposition to the Constitution now would, 
it seems to me, be unwise if not unpatriotic. The peo- 
ple, through their chosen representatives, have ordained 
it as the law of the land. The people, by a direct vote 
at the polls, by a majority almost unparalleled in our 
history, declared in its favor, and is it not now the duty 
of every good citizen to give to it a steady support, that 
the changes it proclaims may be fairly tried ? This, in 
my judgment, we owe to the people, to the country, and 
to ourselves. 

" I tender you my cordial congratulations upon the 
general good health and prosperity of our people. 

" I may also congratulate you on the financial affairs 
of the State. The revenue is abundant to meet the 
ordinary demands upon the Treasury, and will furnish 
a handsome surplus to be applied in payment of the 

public debt." 

*- * * ******** 

"The surplus in the Treasury is under the control of 
the General Assembly, and may, from time to time, be 
profitably and wisely used in aid of the Sinking Fund, 
by judicious appropriations to unfinished public improve- 
ments. Whether there will be an increase in the valua- 



52 John L, Hel 



M. 



tion of the property of the State, and an increase from 
that cause of the surplus in the Sinkin;^ Fund, will de- 
pend mainly upon the selection of faithful and compe- 
tent Assessors. I am inclined, however, to think the 
surplus will not probably exceed $100,000, nor will it fall 
short of $50,000. If, however, nothing- shall be derived 
from the revenue — and the probabilities are there will 
be no surplus from the revenue for a few years — then we 
may safely set down the annual surplus in the Sinking 
Fund at from $65,000 to $75,000. 

" I cannot in candor restrain the expression of m}^ fears 
that the election of the Assessors of taxable property will 
not prove to be a successful and valuable change, and 
that it may result in consequences tending to embarrass 
and confuse our system of finance. Allow me, therefore, 
respectfully to suggest that their duties be plainly pre- 
scribed and enforced by the infliction of adequate pen- 
alties. I have long entertained the opinion that the 
employment of a number of persons in the same county 
to assess the value of property could not fail to multiply 
the chances of unequal taxation. With a view to guard 
against such a result, I suggest for your consideration 
the propriety of providing by law for the appointment 
in each county of a board of equalization, consisting of 
two or more persons ; the duty of such board to be to 
meet after the return of the commissioners' books at the 
county town, and to carefully examine the valuation of 
property, and to equalize the same by increasing or de- 
creasing the value as assessed by the Assessors. Such 
a system has been adopted by other States, and has been 
attended with success, not only in guarding the public 
interest, but in giving satisfaction to the people. Such a 
supervisory power could not fail to render the Assessors 
more vigilant and uniform in the discharge of their 
duties, and guard the citizen against the partiality or 



John L. Helm. 53 



prejudice which may he engendered by a heated election 
or other improper cause." 

" Fifteen years have passed away since the laying of 
the statutory foundation of common schools. During 
the gi'eater part of that time nothing was accomplished, 
either from the jealousy of parties or unbecoming tim- 
idity on the part of the representatives of the people. 
The genious of orators was employed in amusing the 
children and their parents by naratives of what had been 
and what had not been done for them ; yet, while they 
amused and entertained, they left the children uninstruct- 
ed. At length a resolution was taken to submit the great 
question to the people, and most nobly did they rebuke 
the timidity of their former representatives, and fully 
vindicate the truth that bills drawn upon them for the 
noble purpose of educating the youth of the country will 
not be dishonored. 

"Since that time, I am happy to say, the Common 
School vSystem is rapidly and steadily ext(>nding itself 
throughout the Commonwealth. The people in every 
part of the State are becoming more and more interested 
in this gi-eat scheme, and there remains no doubt of our 
ability to accomplish everything that the most sanguine 
friends of the cause have every proposed. In this, how- 
ever, as in every great and beneficent undertaking, we 
must not forget that the results to be attained bear a 
constant proportion to the wisdom, the energy, and the 
steadfastness with which the object is pursued. The 
general education of the people is an object of the very 
highest importance in all possible conditions of human 
society, and is absolutely vital in free States. It has 
been from the foundation of this Commonwealth the 
subject of many and highly favorable legislative eimct- 
ments, and of many and most honorable exertions, both 
general and local. Aow, more than ever, we must con- 



54 John L. Helm. 



sider it as one of the settled and most important ques- 
tions of the public policy of Kentucky, to bring the 
blessings of education within the reach of all her youth. 
I have to assure the General Assembly that no part of 
my public duty will be more grateful to me than a hearty 
concurrence in all that may be judged needful in carry- 
ing to the highest perfection a system of public education 
which will be worthy of the State, and answerable to 
the high career which she proposes to herself. This is a 
platform upon which, for a glorious and common object, 
all men, all parties, and all interests, may cordially unite." 

"The change in the mode of selecting the public offi- 
cers, and in the tenure of office, under the new form of 
government, will make it your duty, in my judgment, to 
readjust the tariff of salaries and fees paid to the several 
officers. This task, I am very well aware, is a delicate 
one, and will be attended wdth no little difficult3\ But, 
delicate and difficult as the task is, I do not entertain a 
doubt that you will agree with me in opinion that the 
success of the experiment of popular elections depends 
greatly upon its manly and fearless performance. You 
must inspire confidence in the new system by inviting men 
of good judgment, sound principles, and practical business 
habits, to till the various offices of the Government. 
Yours is a highly responsible, and, to the mere politi- 
cian, by no means an enviable position. The framers 
of the Constitution have given the people a Govern- 
ment eminently popular. To you is confided the difficult, 
and certainly not less responsible, duty of putting the 
Government into successful operation. The services of 
men who are honest, competent, and faithful, can be se- 
cured only by offering good salaries. If the fees and 
salaries be fixed at a low rate, the standard of merit and 
worth in an officer will be correspondingly low. A man 
who is found willing to work for the State at a merely 



John L. Helm. 55 



nominal salary will most frequently be found to be worth 
less than his pay, little as that pay may be. For good 
work we must be willing to pay a good price. I wish it 
understood, however, that I do not advise an extravagant 
or wasteful expenditure of the public treasure. There 
should be economy in all the departments of the Govern- 
ment. The burthens of the people should not be unne- 
cessarily increased. Men differ, however, very widely in 
their views of public as well as private economy. Some 
measure the standard of economy by the sums actually 
paid out. I do not so view it. In the employment of 
public agents, true economy consists in procuring for the 
least price the services of men who are qualified to per- 
form the duties of their respective stations with prompti- 
tude, with skill, and with fidelity. The services of such 
men are well worth the largest sum the most liberal would 
be willing to pay.. 

"In the consideration of this subject, allow me, with 
earnestness and deep solicitude, to call your especial at- 
tention to the compensation of judicial oflicers. There is 
no principle, in the change from the old to the new form 
of government, in which the triumph of the new is so 
deeply implicated as in the success of the judicial system. 

" It would be an idle task, if not indeed an insult to 
your judgment, for me to consume your time in an elabo- 
rate essay upon the importance of an independent Ju- 
diciary. Freemen — intelligent freemen — understand the 
importance of having a Judiciary free and independent. 
They know it is essential to the preservation of the rights 
of a free people. It is essential to the preservation of the 
Constitution — the people's charter. It is necessary to the 
protection of the weak against the oppressions of the 
strong. It is necessary to hold in check the bad passions 
of the mob. No nation can be free if it have a depend- 
ent Judiciary. There is but one way to secure an inde- 
pendent Judiciary. You must offer such inducements as 



56 John L. Helm. 



will in\dte to the bench the best men of the State — men 
of known legal ability and of unquestioned integrity — men 
who will not fear to look danger in the face — men who 
will not hesitate to shield the innocent and punit^h the 
guilty — who will interpose between the mob and its vic- 
tim. You must secure men who will represent truly the 
majesty of the law; then, and not till then, will you have 
secured a firm, faithful, and independent Judiciary. 

" I am aware that there prevails in the minds of many 
of the people a prejudice against the payment of what 
are called ' high salaries.' What are high salaries? Cer- 
tainly the people of Kentucky have no reason to complain 
that their public treasure has been squandered in the pay- 
ment of exorbitant salaries to their public servants, at 
least not to their Judiciary. It is a fact, known to us all, 
that the salaries heretofore paid, even with the limited 
amount of labor to be performed, have failed, to some 
extent, to command the services of the ablest and best 
lawyers. The reason is too obvious for comment. 

" In consequence of the reduction of the number of 
districts, the physical and mental labor to be performed 
by the judge will be increased probably one third, and 
his personal expenses will be in like manner increased. 
If when, heretofore, the labor was less, the place obtained 
without a struggle, and the tenure was for good behavior, 
the salary offered failed to command, generall}^, the best 
men, is it probable it will do it now? I am sure you will 
answer it will not. Will a lawyer in good business, with 
many and valuable fees half earned, with a practice 
confined to a small circuit, allowing him time for repose 
and improvement to enjoy some of the comforts of domes- 
tic life, and to aid by personal superintendence an econ- 
omical administration of his private affairs; will such a 
man consent to receive a judgeship? to receive less pay, 
perform more labor, and to submit to the very many 
deprivations which he must necessai'ily undergo ; to in- 



John L. Helm. 57 



volve himself first in a doubtful contest in which he will 
be subjected to all the unpleasant incidents which we 
know attend a popular election, and at the end of six 
years run the risk of being superseded and brought back 
to the bar to renew his practice ? Your own good sense 
will furnish a prompt answer to the question. The 
increased labor, mental and physical, will render it 
necessary that men who attain judicial stations should 
be sound lawyers when they enter upon the discharge 
of their duties, for they will have but little time after- 
wards to read and acquire a scientific knowledge of the 
law. They must be good lawyers when they go upon 
the bench or they never will be good judges afterwards. 
" I deny that it is either just or proper to make the 
allowance to a public officer barely sufficient to meet his 
necessary yearly expenditures. Men should employ the 
vigor of manhood in acquiring the means of support in 
advanced age. They must guard against penury and 
want when they shall be no longer able to labor. AVise 
men plant the tree in the days of their youth, that shall 
shelter and protect them on their road to the grave. If 
you do not provide a salary sufficient to justify the 
employment of the whole time of a judge, he will, if 
a man possessing the proper amount of energy to make 
him a useful public officer, prompted not less by interest 
than by the instinct of his nature, look to other means to 
supply the wants of his family. Thus he may be part 
judge and part farmer, trader, merchant, or something 
else, until at length he will become an incomplete part 
of anything. But it is said much is due to the honor of 
the station. True, it is agreeable to a large majority of 
men to be placed by the confidence of their fellow-citi- 
zens in positions from which they derive distinction and 
honor. But the lives of our public men too well attest 
that men cannot live on honor. I submit, whether by 
making your offices places of honor alone, you will not 



58 John L. Helm. 



confer them upon that class of men who have wealth to 
live independent of office, and thus rather create distinc- 
tions than produce equality in society. To my mind the 
true policy is to give a full, fair, liberal, and just equiva- 
lent for the services of a capable man, whether rich or 
poor, that the offices may be objects of fair competition 
among the meritorious, and let honor follow a faithful 
and enlightened discharge of the duties of the station. 
" You cannot be blind to the fact, that, in this glorious 
country of ours, there are vast fields everywhere opening 
to the enterprising and energetic men of thought, which 
promise most bountiful returns for labor. If we would 
appropriate to our State the services of men who are 
invited to those fields of promise, we must pay them, and 
that liberally. The State should not ask the labor of her 
citizens for a less sum than that labor will command from 
others. A parsimonious allowance to the public officers 
will cause the offices to be looked to with indilierence by 
the really meritorious and worthy, and ultimately the 
Government must fall into the hands of those who will 
rely more on the chances of peculation than the com- 
pensation allowed by law." 

" The question of internal improvement I regard as 
settled for the present, so far as the participation of the 
State in any new scheme is concerned. The constitu- 
tional provision on the subject makes it altogether un- 
necessary to enter into an argument upon the policy of 
expenditures by the Legislature in new schemes of pub- 
lic improvement; but I cannot, consistently with what 
I conceive to be my duty, fail to recommend and urge 
you to employ all the means at your command and under 
your proper control towards the completion of the great 
lines of improvement that are now in an unfinished con- 
dition, and in which the State has an interest. It is cer- 
tainly an unwise policy to permit these improvements, 



John L. Helm. 59 



upon which very large sums have been expended, to 
remain unfinished and go to decay and ruin for the want 
of tlie inconsiderable sums necessary to complete them ; 
and I feel satisfied that many of the lines yet unfinished, 
and which now pay no return into the Treasury, would, 
if finished, very soon yield a handsome dividend, not 
only on the sum necessary to complete them, but on the 
whole amount of the State's interest in them. If the 
General Assembly has not the power to appropriate 
money in aid of these unfinished lines, that body, in 
my judgment, should not hesitate to offer the most lib- 
eral inducements to individuals and companies to take 
hold of and finish them. I beg to refer you to the report 
of the able and enlightened President of the Board of 
Internal Improvement for a statement of the condition 
of the public works." 

" I submit for your consid(M-ation the propriety of or- 
dering a minute geological reconnoissance of the State, 
especially of those regions which are supposed to abound 
in minerals. The importance and usefulness of such a 
measure cannot be estimated by conjecture. The dis- 
coveries that may follow a careful and extended survey 
by competent geologists may lead to results of much 
greater impoi'tance than would be supposed upon a 
superficial view of the subject. It is a well-established 
principle in domestic economy that nothing should be 
purchased abroad that can be produced or manufactured 
at home. This principle applies even more forcibly to 
the management of the affairs of a nation. Immense 
sums, we know, are annually withdrawn from circula- 
tion in Kentucky to be expended in other States in the 
purchase of coal, iron, salt, and of many manufactured 
articles necessary to the household, the field, and the 
work-shop. It is confidently believed that we have hid- 
den beneath the surface of the earth within the limits 



60 John L. Helm. 



of our State the means adequate not only to the produc- 
tion of all those articles needed for our own use, but that 
we may become large exporters. Develop the mineral 
wealth of the State, and you will open to the people 
new branches of industry; you will diversify labor; you 
will invite large investments of capital, and you will 
make the regions, which are now considered poor, by far 
the most wealthy and prosperous in the State. Manu- 
facturing establishments will spring up all around you. 
They will afford a good home market for your agricul- 
tural products, and the aggregate wealth of the State 
will be greatly increased. 

" Kentucky must not close her eyes to the future. Her 
sister States, with fewer natural advantages than she 
possesses, are far ahead of her in the struggle for wealth 
and greatness. They work while we are idle. Diffi- 
culties that seem to appall our people are apparently 
unnoticed by them in their onward march. Nature has 
not slighted us. She has given us a soil unequaled — a 
position, geographically, that will enable us, if we will 
but avail ourselves of it, to rival the most favored and 
prosperous of our sisters." 

"Since the adjournment of the last General Assembly, 
the nation has been called to mourn the loss of a great 
and good man — Zaohary Taylor, Chief Magistrate of the 
United States. Though we deeply and sincerely lament 
his death, we have great reason to congratulate om'selves 
that his mantle has iallen u})on a man worthy to wear it. 
Millard Fillmore, the President of the United States, has 
exhibited, in his administration of the affairs of the Gen- 
eral Government, a liberality, a fairness, and a fidelity to 
the Constitution that have won for him a widely-extended 
and an lionorable fame. His manly and patriotic devo- 
tion to the Union entitle him to the gratitude of every 
true lover of his country. With such a man at the head 



John L. Helm. 61 

of affairs, we may feel well satisfied that all the poAvers 
of the Execntiye will be honestly, faithfully, and firmly 
directed to the execution of the laws and the preserva- 
tion of the Constitution. 

" The clouds which for some months past blackened the 
political horizon and threatened the safety of the Union 
have been dispelled, and the skies are again bright and 
full of promise and of hope. In the passage of the com- 
promise measures by the last Congress, the friends of the 
Union achieved a triumph that carried joy and gladness 
to the fireside of every habitation in Kentucky, and 
caused a thrill of pleasure in every patriotic heart in 
the Union. The plotters of the nation's ruin have been 
defeated and put to shame, and the friends of liberty 
everywhere rejoice. 

" The people of Kentucky learned with honest pride 
that their Representatives played a conspicuous and 
noble part in the settlement of the questions which 
menaced the Union. Fired by an honest zeal and pa- 
triotic devotion to the nation, they forgot or disregarded 
all mere party differences and party divisions, and united 
as one man in the support and vindication of the Consti- 
tution. iVs, in times past, when danger threatened the 
Union, when disunionists and factionists and fanatics 
united in an attempt to sever the bands that bind this 
glorious confederacy together, our own great statesman 
was found foremost in the ranks of the defenders of the 
Constitution. In the council and in the cabinet — where- 
ever there was found a Representative of Kentucky — 
there was also found a true, loyal, steadfast, and un- 
yielding friend of the Constitution and the Union. The 
promise given by my immediate predecessor, in his an- 
nual communication to the last General Assembly, that 
' Kentucky will stand by and abide by the Union to the 
last,' has been thus far nobly kept. It will never be 
broken. 



62 John L. Helm. 



" Kentucky owes a debt of gratitude — a debt she will 
ever be ready to pay — to those distinguished statesmen 
of the North and the South, of both the great political 
parties, who, disregarding all sectional and party divi- 
sions, boldly and patriotically stepped forth in the defense 
of the Constitution, and rescued it from the hands of its 
enemies and despoilers. They have preserved the Union 
— and they have won for themselves a place in the hearts 
of their countrymen. 

"May we not hope that their labors will be crowned 
with complete success, and that the spirit of disorder and 
misrule, now broken, will be banished forever. The 
judgment of the sound and reflecting portion of the 
people of all sections condemns, I am sure, the danger- 
ous radical doctrines of both extremes of the Union. 
The people are not agitators ; the people are not faction- 
ists. Will they not fix the seal of their disapprobation 
upon those, who, for selfish purposes, would fan the flame 
of discord in the nation, and renew again the fearful fire 
that threatened to consume us? Kentucky, I am sure, 
will stand by the Constitution and the laws. May she not 
ask — nay, has she not a right to demand of her sisters 
in the confederacy — partners in the great national com- 
pact — that they, too, will be true to the Constitution and 
its compromises ? It is gratifying to observe with what 
unanimity the people of the South are declaring in sup- 
port of the great measures of peace passed b}' the last 
Congress. Every breeze brings us the glad tidings that 
the friends of the compromise representing that quarter 
in Congress are hailed with pride by their constituents. 
It was feared that the angry feeling there engendered 
would not soon subside. But we have reason to hope it 
is gone — the conviction that the Constitution has been 
vindicated and that the Union is safe, has filled the 
hearts of the people with joy. We turn with unfeigned 
sorrow and regret to the accounts that reach us from 



John L. Helm. 63 



some of our sister States in the northern portion of the 
confederacy. There we hear loud murmurings at the 
passage of one of the compromise measures — the fugi- 
tive slave bill. There the friends of that measure are 
openly denounced and contemned ; even more, armed 
resistance to its execution is gravely threatened. I can- 
not believe that any respectable portion of the people of 
the North participate in this feeling. It cannot be that 
they are willing again to stir up the spirit of discord. 
Who is there to guarantee that our noble old ship will be 
able again to weather so dire and dreadful a storm as 
that from which she has just escaped ? No man who 
loves his country or values properly her institutions will 
aid in bringing about again the fearful crisis we have 
just passed. An armed or forcible resistance to the 
execution of the fugitive slave law is treason, and those 
who counsel, aid, or assist in that unholy work, are 
traitors to the Constitution and enemies to the best in- 
terests of the nation. 

" It should ever be borne in mind that the General 
Government is one of limited powers, and was never de- 
signed to interfere with the domestic institutions of any 
of the local sovereignties, directly or indirectly. The 
power to declare what should or what should not be prop- 
erty was never intended to be delegated to it; but its 
protecting shield was extended over whatever had been 
recognized as such by any of the States. I cannot but 
be deeply and profoundly impressed with the importance 
of maintaining with inviolable sanctity the great doctrine 
that a Government which is the Federal representative of 
all the States should, in its legislation, abstain from hos- 
tile action against the property of any State or section. 
It has no right to throw its moral influence against the 
tenure of property, recognized as such by any of the 
States. It prostitutes its powers and the purposes of its 
organization by assuming an attitude of hostility to the 



64 John L. Helm. 



existence of any particular property in any State or sec- 
tion. It wisely conformed itself, in its original organiza- 
tion, to the domestic institutions then existing. The Gov- 
ernment was made with a reference to the institution of 
domestic slavery. Any, the slightest interference with it, 
was cautiously avoided. The surest and most certain 
mode of perpetuating that Government peaceably and in 
harmony must be by administering it in the spirit in which 
it was made. As the common Government of each and 
all the States, it is bound not to discriminate between the 
domestic institutions of one State or section and another. 
Strict non-intervention by the General Government, with 
the protection guaranteed by the Constitution, is the only 
true and safe doctrine. It is the doctrine upon which the 
great compromise questions were settled. Those questions 
could not have been settled upon any other principle. It 
is the only doctrine compatible with the great fundamental 
principle of our political system, that a people have a 
right to establish whatever government they think proper 
for themseh^es." 

With the inauguration of Governor Powell, which 
took place on the 5th day of September, 1851, ended 
Governor Helm's term of office. Returning to his home 
in Hardin county, he applied himself to the duties of 
his profession, almost wholly, up to the year 1854. It was 
during the latter year that he appeared as counsel for 
the prisoner, the late Matthew F. Ward, in one of the 
most noted murder trials that ever took place in the 
State. It would be altogether out of place in this sketch 
to give even a synopsis of the masterly argument made 
by Governor Helm on the occasion referred to. A few 
paragraphs from the speech, however, are so character- 
istic of the man that we cannot forbear inserting them. 
Addressing the jury, Governor Helm is reported to have 
said : 



John L. Helm. 65 



" I have often addressed you in the jury-box and from 
the rostrum ; on the stump and in the muster-field You 
are all aware that in the discussion of any subject in 
which I feel a deep interest, my manner is usually excited 
and earnest; but on this occasion I speak under great 
disadvantage, having been confined to my bed by illness 
almost constantly for the last two months ; and only 
hoping that I may be sustained, and that you may bear 
with me until I can discharge the solemn duty I owe to 
my client. 

" I feel perhaps more deeply interested in this case 
than I ever have felt in any other in which I have been 
engaged. I feel thus from the nature of the ties that 
bind me to the family of this defendant. Many years 
ago, when I first entered the political field, I met his 
father in the councils of the State ; and again and again 
have I associated with other members of the family there. 
And, as in the beginning of my humble political career, 
these men took me by the hand and gave me their aid 
and support, I have ever felt grateful to them ; and now 
that an event has unfortunately occurred by wdiich I 
hope to be enabled to do something, so far as my poor 
ability goes, to cancel the debt, you cannot wonder that 
my deepest sympathies are enlisted. 

" The gentleman who preceded me has alluded to out- 
side influences — to the fact that this prisoner was driven 
from his own home to seek justice here. It is true that, 
from the moment the event occurred for which he is now 
on trial, distorted and prejudiced accounts of it were 
given to the public ; and, accompanied by articles of 
the most inflammatory character, were spread upon the 
wings of the wind by the newspaper press. Therefore 
this excited feeling was caused, and therefore the pris- 
oner asked only what the law gives — that he might be 
tried in an unbiased and unprejudiced community. 
5 



66 John L. Helm. 



" Complaints have been made that this defendant has 
been living in luxury and splendor in jail here, while 
others have suffered from having their absolute wants 
neglected. That others have suffered, there is no doubt. 
But after the accused was removed to this place, I visited 
him in jail, and found him suffering from a severe attack 
of neuralgia and inflammatory rheumatism — the same 
disease that had recently confined me to my bed, and, 
notwithstanding all precautions, had racked my limbs 
wdth a thrill of pain at every blast that swept over the 
hills. I went, hoping at least to keep this man alive 
until he could throw back the foul charges that have 
been heaped upon him, show their falsity, and vindicate 
his conduct, as he humbly hopes he can, in the eyes of 
this jury and the people of this country. I visited him, 
and I had a partition and a stove put up in his cell, that 
his disease might not be aggravated by the inclemency 
of the weather ; and for these precautions his own money 
paid, so that no wrong has been done the State. 

" Is it a part of your wish that men should be punished 
to the death before they are tried ? Even if this accused 
was provided with the simple necessities of life, if that 
mother wished to go and lay her tender hand on his 
aching head, if that wife would seek his lonely cell, and 
soothe and cheer him by the light of her presence and 
her love, was it wrong? Who, with a heart not glutted 
with blood, could object to it? 

" I know that the prisoner has much to contend with 
outside of this prosecution; but, gentlemen, yours is a 
proud position. You are placed by the law a firm shield 
before him, to protect him from all unjust and improper 
attacks. With no aim but to learn the truth and to do 
justice, I feel confident that you will stand like a rock in 
the midst of the ocean, unmoved by the fury of the wild 
waves that dash madly against it only to be broken in 



John L. Helm. 67 

pieces. We only ask that you will perform your duty, 
and that justice may be done, though the heavens fall. 

"But the gentleman tells you you have no right to 
retain a single particle of mercy. This is the first time 
in my life I have heard such a sentiment gravely an- 
nounced by a man acquainted with the books. 

'•'To err is human — to forgive, divine.' 

" He has alluded to the first murderer. But did not 
God in mercy hear even his prayer, and place a mark 
upon his forehead that none might slay him? And when 
a woman was arraigned on a high charge before the 
Saviour of the world, when none was so guiltless that he 
might cast the first stone at her, then there was mercy 
from on high, and He sent her away with the kind in- 
junction to go and sin no more." * 

The excellent condition of the State Treasury at the 
present time is, in a great measure, the result of Governor 
Helm's admirable financial abilities and forethought. On 
the l:ith day of .January, 1834, he moved the following 
resolution in the House of Representatives, which was 
twice read and adopted : 

" Resolved, That a committee of thirteen be appointed, 
whose duty it shall be to take into consideration the re- 
sources and means of this Commonwealth, and to devise, 
if practicable, some plan by which a specific fund can be 
raised for the purpose of carrying on a comprehensive 
system of internal improvements and establishing a sys- 



*Tbe writer was well acquainted with the late Matthew F. Ward. Iu a 
moment of passion, he shot to death one of the most amiable and popular 
citizens of Louisville. The killing was wholly unjustifiable, and that he so 
considered it to the last day of his life, none that knew him can doubt. He 
lived afterwards a quiet and unassuming life, and bore on his features the 
impress of a mind that was constantly burdened with the sense of his sin 
His whole existence, after his legal acquittal, appeared to those, who had the 
best opportunities to witness and to judge, one continuous act of repentance. 
He removed to Arkansas shortly after his trial, and was killed during the 
war, while standing in his own door, by some roving guerrillas. 



68 John L. Helm. 



tem of common schools, and that they report to this 
House." 

The committee appointed under this resolution, of 
which Mr. Helm was named chairman, not only origin- 
ated the present Common School System of Kentucky, 
but laid the foundations of the Sinking Fund laws, by 
which certain resources of the State were set apart for 
the extinction of both principal and interest of the State 
debt. Under the new Constitution these specific resources 
were farther added to, and any expenditure of money due 
to the Sinking Fund was absolutely forbidden, except for 
the purposes named. 

During his entire public life, Governor Helm was the 
consistent advocate of a liberal system of public improve- 
ments. To effect this object, not even Mr. Clay, the 
father of the system, was disposed to go further, or labor- 
ed more perseveringly. It was not his idea that the State 
should place in jeopardy her resources or her credit by 
taking on herself the prosecution of complicated and cost- 
ly works of internal improvement. But he thought that 
the credit of the State might well be extended to all pri- 
vate enterprises that had for their object the opening up 
of the resources of the country. He considered that full 
reimbursement would follow these outlays of the public 
money from the increased taxable value of all lands con- 
tiguous to such improvements. 

But not only was the late CTOvernor an advocate of 
public improvements at the expense of the State ; he 
labored with great efficiency, also, in his own county, to 
induce his fellow-citizens to form connections with their 
neighbors through the construction of turnpike roads and 
substantial bridges over the various streams intersecting 
the county. The turnpike highway between Louisville 
and Nashville, which passes through Hardin county, was 
a favorite scheme of his long before its construction was 
decided on, and to no one man is greater credit due for 



John L. Helm. 69 

its ultimate completion. As early as 1836, from his place 
on the floor of the House of Representatives, he sketched 
out the course of the railroad, which was afterwards built, 
connecting the commercial metropolis of Kentucky with 
Nashville, Tennessee. He was a liberal subscriber to the 
original stock of this road, and through his influence with 
the capitalists of the county and State, contributed large- 
ly to the subsequent success of the gigantic undertaking. 

In 1854 he was elected President of the Louisville and 
Nashville Railroad Company. The affairs of this or- 
ganization were at the time in a wretched condition, 
its funds exhausted, and its credit impaired. Many 
citizens of Hardin and Hart counties had refused to 
pay their assessments towards the building of the road, 
and a large portion of the work, as a consequence, had 
to be suspended. Those who had originally subscribed 
stock were beginning to fear that their investments were 
about to be swallowed up in the insolvency of the com- 
pany. It was under these discouraging circumstances 
that Governor Helm took charge of the road. Such an 
impulse did he give to the undertaking, by his energetic 
yet careful management of the affairs of the company, 
that confidence was soon restored, the suspended portions 
of the work again put under contract, and the bonds of 
the compau}', which had before ruled in the market at a 
mere trifle of their cost, were bought up by prudent cap- 
italists as a safe and remunerative investment. 

The first locomotive that crossed the Rolling Fork into 
his native count}', bore, with its other burdens, the presi- 
dent of the road. He was a proud man that day. He 
realized the importance of the work which had so long- 
engaged his thoughts and his labors. He had lived to 
serve the material interests of his own people — to see his 
own beloved county wedded to the beautiful Ohio, fifty 
miles away, and his heart dilated with a sense of pleas- 
ure that it had never before experienced, as his life-long 



70 John L. Helm. 

friends and neighbors, from the positions they had taken 
up beside the track all along its course, Avaved to him 
their congratulations as he was swiftly borne on his way 
to the station at Elizabethtown. 

Governor Helm retained the position of President of the 
Louisville and Xashville Railroad Company until 18G0. 
At the date named, in consequence of a divergence of 
views between himself and the majority of the Board of 
Directors, in regard to the proper policy to be pursued in 
the affairs of the company, he thought proper to resign 
his otfice.* 

Previously to his acceptance of the Presidency of the 
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, President 
Fillmore had appointed Governor Helm Commissioner of 
Claims in California. The Senate, however, declined to 
ratify his nomination. 

In the great struggle that took place in Kentucky, and 
throughout the United States, in 1855, between the Demo- 
cratic party and the short-lived organization known as 
the American, or Know-jVothing party, Mr. Helm acted 
with the latter, though he expressed his opposition to cer- 
tain of its proscriptive features. f 

*The arduous labors which Governor Helm imposed on himself while 
President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company came near 
costinw him his life on one occasion. In 1857, after months of incessant 
toil, he found himself prostrated on a bed of sickness at Nashville, whither 
he had gone to attend the interests of the road. It was long before he was 
again able to perform the duties of his ofBce. He had scarcely recovered 
from his illness when he received the news of the death, in Memphis, Ten- 
nessee, of a favorite, son, George Helm, who was at the time a young man 
of great promise. He continued, to be sure, to fulfill every duty of his cffice 
with the decision and promptitude which characterized all his acts; but the 
spirit and buoyancy of life seemed to have left him. It is the opinion of 
his immediate family that the disease, of which he afterwards died, was con- 
tracted and aggravated by his unceasing labors in the service of the railroad 
company. 

t Large numbers of the leaders of the old Whig party of the country, after 
the death of Henry Clay, Daxiel Webster, and others, who had been its 
apostles when the organization was able to compete with the Democratic 



JoHX L. Helm. 71 

During the brief period that intervened between his 
retiracy from the office of President of the Louisville and 
Xashville Railroad Company and the commencement of 
active hostilities in the late civil war. Gov. Helm applied 
hinjself with earnestness to the practice of his profession 
and to the cultivation and improvement of his farm. But 
the conflict was close at hand which was to involve irre- 
trievably his own material interests and prospects, and 
those of thousands of others all over the land, and which 
was to bring upon him and them a weight of personal 
affliction of which they could ha^e had at the time but 
little conception. He and they were yet to learn the 
heart-pangs of the bereaved — to experience a woe similar 
to that which was proclaimed in Rama : - Rachel bewail- 
ing her children, and Avould not be comforted, because 
they are not/' 

Governor Helm never favored secession. While he ful- 
ly recognized and condemned, with a patriot's indignation, 
the shamefully unjust policy, as it affected the interests of 
the South, of the majority that was supposed to represent 
Northern sentiment in the Congress of the United States, 
he appeared to entertain, at the same time, an abiding 
faith in the people's regard for the Constitution to correct 
every evil under which his own section was suffering. 

partv in aa e<"|ual contest before the people, found themselves, in 1354. so 
reduced in nambers aad influenee as to feel justified in resorting' to a species 
of party trickery in order to prevent the Democrats from obtaining control 
of the Government and absorbing all its patronage. They attempted, in 
direct conflict with the letter and spirit of the organic law, and in opposi- 
tion to the genius of Republican Government, to organize a party based on 
the proscription of individual citizens on account of their peculiar views of 
religious faith. Stultified men never committed a greater blunder than this 
But they went further, and fixed on the couatry a system of political engi. 
neering, by means of secret organizations, which has ever since obtained in 
the land, and which, in the opinion of many, more than anything else, led 
to the late deplorable civil war. Governor Helm voted with this party, as 
did thousands of others — not because of any respect he had for its pro- 
scriptive features, but because of his then innate aversion toward the Demo- 
cratic opposition. 



72 John L, Helm. 



without any resort, on the part of its citizens, to a meas- 
ure so sweeping in its character and so problematical in 
its consequences. Alas ! neither did Governor Helm, nor 
the prudent statesmen that thought as he did, have any 
power to arrest the storm that had long been brooding 
over the country. In an evil hour ten States severed their 
connection with the rest of the Union, and the red flame 
of war was lighted from the Potomac and the Ohio to the 
Gulf — from the borders of Kansas, in the North, to the 
Rio Grande, in the South. 

Every one will remember the general indignation that 
was felt throughout the State on the announcement of 
the fact that President Lincoln had issued his proclama- 
tion calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers to ope- 
rate against the South. On the question of the policy 
of this measure the people of the State were then almost 
a unit. They regarded the act as an assumption of 
power on the part of the President that was not war- 
ranted by the Constitution. They looked upon it as in- 
dicative of a coalition between the President and the 
anti-slavery party of the North, having for its object the 
enforced extinction of the institution of slavery. When 
this latter presumption was denied by the President and 
solemnly declared false by Congress, a large party was 
formed in Kentucky pledged to the prosecution of the 
war till such time as the Southern States, through the 
voice of their populations, should agree to lay down their 
arms and submit to the requirements of the Constitution. 
Fully as great, if not a still greater, number of the peo- 
ple of the State, who could not be brought to assume 
an attitude of hostility to those who w^ere naturally their 
friends and neighbors, and whose institutions and in- 
terests were identical with their own, though few among 
them had any sj^mpathy with the movement in its incep- 
tion, determined either to remain neutral in the conflict 
or to unite their fortunes with the weaker party. 



John L. Helm. 73 

Governor Helm acted as chairman of the famous meet- 
ing held in Louisville on the 8th of January, 18G1, in 
which the neutral policy of Kentucky was declared the 
sentiment of men of all parties in the State. Appended 
to the i-esolutions passed at that meeting will be found 
the names of men who afterwards were loudest in their 
denunciation of the act in which they themselves took 
part. Governor Helm, at the meeting referred to, and 
on all proper occasions afterwards, was open in his con- 
demnation of the war; but he was equally open in de- 
claring the act of secession one of great danger and of 
doubtful propriety. He stood aloof from the conliict 
from first to last, though often sorely tried by the inter- 
ference in his private affaii's of the Government officials 
by whom he was surrounded. His son and son-in-law 
had made choice to cast their lot with the people of the 
South in resistance of the purposes of the Government; 
and he did not feel that he would be justified in opposing 
their election. This fact was sufficient to affix to his 
name, with the so-called Union party of Kentucky and 
with the military authorities that were then preparing to 
invade the State, the title of ?-cl)e!. At length the news 
reached him that ex-Governor Morehead had been ar- 
rested, and that warrants were out commanding his own 
arrest. Knowing that he had been guilty of no act to 
warrant interference with his lil)eity, he was at first dis- 
posed to await further developments ; but having again 
been cautioned to avoid the emissaries of the Govern- 
ment, with a sorrowful heart he bade his family farewell 
and repaired to Bowling Green. By the intervention of 
the Hon. Warner Underwood, who stood in high favor 
with the invaders of his State, Governor Helm, after a 
brief absence, was permitted to return to his home. By 
agreement, he was to report on his afiival to General 
Sherman, then commanding in Kentucky. On doing so, 
he was required to take an oath to support the Constitu- 



74 John L. Helm. 

tion of the United States. This he had done many times 
before, and he had no difficulty in doing it again. For a 
while after having performed this ceremony, he remained 
unmolested. When Gen. Mitchell's troops, by express 
order to that effect, were encamped on his farm. Gov- 
ernor Helm was treated with becoming courtesy by the 
officer in command, because, as he said, of his former 
acquaintance with his father-in-law, the Hon. Ben. Har- 
din. 

From this time till the close of the war he enjoyed 
little peace. Rude soldiers were permitted to enter his 
house and to frighten his children ; the growing and 
matured crops on his farm were consumed, destroyed, 
and wasted without compensation of any kind ; his house 
was ransacked from cellar to garret, and what was seen 
and coveted, abstracted ; he was himself repeatedly in- 
sulted and threatened, without the shadow of justifica- 
tion ; his negro servants were tampered with and induced 
to abandon their places; in a w^ord, nothing was left 
undone, by both officers and men, that the}^ thought cal- 
culated to injure him in his means, and to degrade him 
as a man. 

Finding it impossible to preserve the fruits of his toil 
from the rapacity of the soldiery by whom he was sur- 
rounded, he made the attempt to raise a crop of tobacco, 
on the supposition that this could not be eaten before it 
was cured, and trusting to be able to secure at least a 
portion of the crop for his own needs; but just at the 
time when the labor of his negro servants was most 
required to prevent the ruin of the plants, in what is 
called by tobacco-raisers the looi-ming season, every able- 
bodied servant on the place was taken into the service of 
the Government for the purpose of building fortifications ; 
and thus all his expectations of a crop were brought to 
nought. The courts were all closed, and he had nothing 
to hope for in the way of legal practice. He had no 



John L. Helm. 75 



recourse but to borrow money for the support of his 
family, and thus, in a few short years, he found himself 
reduced from affluence to poverty, with the prospect 
before him, since too sadly realized, of leaving his family 
destitute when he should himself be called away from 
life. 

Under all these heavy trials Governor Helm retained 
his patience. He endeavored to encourage the despond- 
ing hearts of his wife and daughters, on whose account 
alone he seemed to care for the reverses he had sustained. 
Sometimes, however, he appeared to give way to utter 
despair. On one occasion, when he was visited by a 
squad of soldiers that had been ordered to search his 
house, he met the officer in command at the door, and 
solemnly protested against the indignity to which he was 
being subjected. He exhibited before his eyes that clause 
of the Constitution of their common country which de- 
nounced as illegal the very act in which he was engaged. 
All useless this, as he might have known from the first. 
What was the Constitution when brought into contact 
with 7nUitary necessity ^ This latter was then the potent 
power in the State, and overrid not only constitutions 
and laws, but a proper regard for the proprieties and 
decencies of civilized social life also. Ciovernor Helm 
should have known that the Constitution that had proved 
unequal to the protection of his rights of property in the 
corn raised on his own farm, the mules and horses paid 
for by his own money, and any other property to which 
he had a legal title in accordance with the laws of the 
country, would be equally powerless to prevent the 
ingress of the agents of the Government to his own 
house. The officer "had to obey orders," and the Ctov- 
eruor had to submit to military necessity, and there was 
the end of the matter. 

A few days prior to Ctcu. Bragg's entry into Kentucky, 
in September, 1862, Governor Helm was arrested by Col. 



76 John L. Helm. 

Knox, who was then in command of the forces stationed 
at Elizabethtown. He was met by that officer on the 
high road when returning to his home from his farm, 
where he had been laboring all day, and this doughty 
official, leveling- his pistol at his breast, declared him his 
prisoner. In company with several other citizens of the 
county, who had been arrested at the same time, he was 
placed under guard and kept for several days in camp, 
without proper protection against the heat of the day or 
the chill of the night, and the entire band was afterwards 
dispatched to Louisville. While the prisoners were being 
taken from the cars to the n)ilitary prison. Governor J. F. 
Robinson, then the Chief Magistrate of the State, a man 
that stood high in the confidence of the military author- 
ities, and a personal friend of Governor Helm, accident- 
ally saw the cavalcade as it marched through the streets, 
and was much surprised and distressed to behold in it the 
dignified form of one he had so long known and so greatly 
respected. Hastening io the office of Gen. Boyle, who 
was then commanding the District, Governor Robinson 
protested against the indignity to which his old friend 
was being subjected, and earnestly besought his immedi- 
ate release. Gen. Boyle assured him that he had issued 
no order for Governor Helm's arrest, and expi'essing great 
surprise ai, the circumstance, he at once handed to Gov- 
ernor Robinson an order addressed to the office!" in charge 
of the prison for the enlargement of the Governor, with 
the permission that he might return to his home. 

In the meantime, Bragg's arm} had reached Elizabeth- 
town, and a strict surveillance being kept up by its own 
outposts and those of General Nelson, the commander of 
the forces left for the protection of Louisville, it was with 
difficult} that Governof Helm was enabled to reach his 
own home. On the evening of his return, the members 
of his family were gathered together, painfully brooding 
over their miseries, and fearing for the husband and 



John L. Helm. 77 



father a long imprisonment, when they Mere aronsed by 
the glad shouts of certain of their servants that had up 
to the time remained faithful, " Massa John's come ! 
Here's Massa John ! " We shall not attempt to describe 
the meeting with his family that followed. There was 
little about it that was demonsti'ative, but there were 
gladsome faces and thankful hearts that night under the 
roof-tree of the Helm mansion. 

In September, 1862, took place the bloody battle of 
Chickamauga, in which the life of the Governor's oldest 
son, Gen. Ben. Hardin Helm, was sacrificed in defense of 
Southern independence.* This was the crowning sorrow 
of Governor Helm's life. In vain he summoned to his 
aid the fortitude, often mistaken for the stoicism, of his 
character. Not even the mother of his boy, that had 
nursed him at her bosom, felt a greater pang in the sor- 
rowful intelligence of his fall. tSo deeply at times did 
he appear to feel the blow that had been struck him in 
the death of this favorite son, that his family were fearful 
for the stability of his reason. The so-called 7'csn/ts of 
the nmr — which, in his case, meant the seizure of his 

* Ben. Hardin' Hklm, oldest son of Gov. Helm, was born June 2d, 1831. 
He graduated at West Point when about twenty years old, and entered 
the United States military service as 2d Lieutenant of Cavalry. He was 
first stationed at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Thence he was sent out 
on frontier service in Western Texas, where he was seiized with a very 
severe illness iti 1852, which caused him to come iiome. While at home, 
his father persuaded him to resign his position in the army and study law. 
After finishing his course of studies at the Law Schools of Louisville and 
Cambridge, he commenced the practice with his father at Elizabethtown. 
He was a fine lawyer, and won rapidly popular approbation. In 1855 he 
was elected to the Legislature, and the next year Commonwealth's Attorney. 
In 1858 he moved to Louisville, where he practiced law until the commence- 
ment of the war, when he entered the Confederate service as Colonel of the 
1st Kentucky Cavalry. He was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier 
General. He was a popular, skillful, brave officer; won a high reputation 
as a soldier; had his horse sho*- under him, and was badly wounded at Baton 
Rouge, and was finally killed at the head of his command— the 1st Kentucky 
Brigade of Infantry — on the 20th day of September, 1862, on the bloody 
field of Chickamauga. He left a widow and three children. 



78 John L. Helm. 



property without compensation and the manumission of 
his slaves, valued five years before at forty thousand 
dollars — had reduced him to absolute poverty, and he 
could not get rid of the conviction — alas ! since too sadly 
realized — that the labors of his entire life had turned out 
fruitless, and that his family would be left unprovided for 
at his death. 

In 1865 Governor Helm was again returned to the 
State Seriate from the Tenth Senatorial District, and 
served in that body on the Committee on Federal Rela- 
tions. On the 20th of January, 1866, he moved the fol- 
lowing resolution, viz : 

'■'Resolved, That the joint committee appointed to take 
into consideration the altered condition of the colored 
people of this Commonwealth inquire into the expe- 
diency of repealing laws requiring that slaves shall be 
listed for taxation; and into the propriety of levying a 
poll tax on all able-bodied negroes over eighteen years 
of age and under sixty-five, to create a fund to erect 
houses of correction, and to purchase farms and erect 
houses to be used in taking care of old and infirm 
negroes, and looking ultimately to the creation of a fund 
for the education of children of color." 

From the day the war ended to the present time, it has 
been a marked feature of legislation in what were lately 
slave States, wherever their white populations have been 
permitted to exercise uncontrolled authority, to so alter 
and amend their statutes as to secure to the blacks every 
available means, consistent with the peace of society, of 
bettering their condition. Govei-nor Helm's motive in 
offering the above resolution was clearly of this char- 
acter. As much as he desired that the body of newly- 
created freedmen should not become an impediment to 
the prosperity of the State, much more even was he 
solicitous that the means should be afforded them to 
raise themselves in the scale of humanity and human 



John L. Helm. 79 



progress, and to thus become useful and contented mem- 
bers of the social fabric of which they were likely to 
remain for ages so large an element. 

On the 24th of January, 1866, Mr. Helm presented to 
the Senate an able protest against the action of the 
United States Congress in declaring the complete abro- 
gation of the institution of slavery in all the States, 
The protest, which originated in the Committee on Fed- 
eral Relations, goes on to say : 

"The people of Kentucky, through the General As- 
sembly, protest against the constitutional amendments 
referred to, both because of the manner in which they 
were proposed by Congress to the States and the manner 
of their ratification. They protest against the legal 
efiect as claimed for them in Kentucky. 

" The people of Kentucky insist that the people of the 
States originally possessed all the sovereign power; that 
in the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, 
for the purposes of a Cxeneral Government, they surren- 
dered certain powers which were specified in the Consti- 
tution, and such other powers as were necessary to carry 
into effect the granted powers — the States then having 
all sovereign power reserved to themselves respectively — 
that is, each individual State, to itself or the people, all 
powers not delegated to Congress. 

" It is insisted that the States hold these powers which 
they reserved as individual States, in their original capac- 
ity and character as peoples of separate and distinct com- 
munities. They are held as all power Avas originally held 
by them, subject alone to their individual will; they are 
not within the scope of the amending power in the Con- 
stitution. They are in no manner made subject to the 
will of the Cxeneral Government. The powers of the 
General Government cannot be increased by a transfer of 
the reserved powers of the States, except by the consent 
of each individual State. 



80 John L. Helm. 



" The State of Kentucky, in the exercise of the highest 
attribute of sovereignty under the reserved powers to the 
vStates, formed for the local government of the people a 
Constitution, by the provisions of which the right of 
masters in slaves is secured. 

" Slavery existed before the formation of the General 
Government, and was never subject to its control. The 
proposed amendments are objected to because of the 
time and the circumstances under which they were pro- 
posed by Congress to the States. It was in the midst of 
a civil war, when eleven of the fifteen States on whom it 
was especially designed to operate were not represented 
on the floor of Congress ; its passage did not express the 
will of the people of the whole nation. 

" They are objected to because of the manner of their 
ratification. The Southern States lately in rebellion are 
counted in the number necessary to make the ratification 
complete. 

" Without inquiring into the fact whether the plan of 
the Piesident for the restoration of those States to their 
political relations with the General Government is right 
or wrong, it is sufficient that it is known that the ratifica- 
tion, claimed to be the acts of those States, was when the 
Governments of those States were provisional only ; they 
had no other authority than the military authority of the 
President. The ratification was under the dictation of 
the President, when he held the lives and fortunes of a 
vast number of the best citizens of those States in his 
hands. They had been conquered, and many of the con- 
quering army was in their presence. Martial law was 
declared to be in force. Their Conventions and Legisla- 
tures were elected under a proscribed right of sufi^rage. 
They were powerless, and laid prostrate at the feet of 
power. In that condition the act was insisted on as in- 
dispensable to a restoration of the civil and political 
rights of the citizens of those States under the Constitu- 
tion. 



John L. Helm. 81 

" It is insisted that the fact of a restoration must have 
been completed at the time of their respective ratifica- 
tions. ]t is not pretended that such was the fact. The 
restoration should have been so far complete that the 
citizens of those States should have been recognized as 
citizens of the United States, and, as such, admitted to 
representation on the floor of Congress. 

" If these things were not necessary, and the relations of 
those States were restored on ceasing their resistance to 
federal authority, then they were not possessed of, and 
did not act under, regular State governments, such as are 
contemplated by the Constitution of the United States. 
The Constitution, in its reference to States, must be un- 
derstood to be. States acting under such regularly formed 
and oi'ganized governments as existed at the time of its 
formation. The people of Kentucky insist that the as- 
semblies which assumed to ratify the amendments on the 
part of the States of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana, 
were not the regular State Legislatures of those States. 
The so-called State of Western A^irginia was not a mem- 
ber of the Union according to the forms of the Constitu- 
tion. That the acts of States in rebellion, having no 
recognized rights under the government, shall be made to 
destroy the rights to property of citizens in a loyal and 
adhering State, is anomalous in the history of govern- 
ments. Such position cannot be sustained on principle, 
or justified by reason or common justice. The people of 
Kentucky regard these acts revolutionary and dangerous 
encroachments upon the reserved powers of the States, 
and protest against them. 

" They protest against the second clause, because it,s 
language confers upon Congress a broad and unlimited, 
and what is claimed to be an intended, power to legislate 
for the protection of a particular class of persons within 
the States. Besides being an innovation on the time- 
6 



82 John L. Helm. 

honored principle, that each State has the exclusive right 
to legislate over their own domestic affairs, they feel 
assured, under it, a system of legislation may and prob- 
ably will be indulged which will 7nake the negro a more 
disturbing element in our political system than ever before, and 
will ultimately terminate in the destruction of his race, 

" They deem this a fit occasion to make this, their 
solemn protest against the Freedman's Bureau into this 
State. It was done without authority of law. In its 
operations it is offensive to the people. It combines judi- 
cial with military authority, a combination forbidden by 
the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The same officer 
who passes his judgment executes it at the door of a 
prison or at the point of the bayonet. They deny that a 
judicial officer may be appointed otherwise than by the 
President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
The introduction of this swarm of Federal officials with- 
out authority of law they regard as an exercise of arbi- 
trary and despotic power. Its effects will be to oppress 
the people and to defeat the enactment or the enforce- 
ment of wise and just laws for the protection and govern- 
ment of persons of color, over whom the Bureau has 
assumed jurisdiction. It will defeat contracts for labor, 
and ultimately destroy those whom it professes to pro- 
tect. 

" While thus protesting, the people of Kentucky recog- 
nize as an existing fact that those who have been held to 
service, many of whom are now in our midst, have been 
placed beyond the control of their masters by the action 
of the Government. For that reason they do, and will 
insist, that the masters of such persons are entitled to a 
just and adequate compensation, and in their behalf the 
Legislature now assert claim against the Government of 
the United States. But the mere loss of property sinks to 
insignificance when compared with the enormity of the 
manner in which it was done — with the palpable viola- 



John L. Helm. 83 



tion of the Constitution and the solemn pledges of the 
party in power to the effect that the institution should 
remain unharmed. 

" It is a palpable violation of a gj-eat fundamental 
principle enunciated by their chief— ' the right of each 
State to order and control its own domestic institutions 
according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to 
the balance of power on which the perfection and endur- 
ance of our political fabric depends.' 

"The people of Kentucky now, as ever, unalterably 
attached to the principles of the Constitution, do further 
solemnly protest against the many and palpable viola- 
tions of the letter and spirit of the Constitution which, in 
the last four years, have been committed by those in power 
and their subordinates. 

" The continued denial to them of the privilege of the 
writ of Iiabcas corpus ; the suppression of the liberty of 
speech and of the press; the arrest and imprisonment of 
citizens without due process of laAv, and upon charges 
unknown to law; the trial and punishment by military 
commissions of citizens not connected with the military 
or naval service ; the taking of private property for pub- 
lic use without just compensation; the denial of the right 
of the citizens to canvass for and hold office when quali- 
fied by law ; and the employment of Federal soldiers to 
control the freedom of elections in the States — these are 
acts of tyrannical usurpation to which uncontrollable 
force has compelled their submission, but for which their 
duty to themselves and to their posterity requires them to 
set their seal of condemnation." 

Though there is still lying before us a mass of other 
published evidences of the late Governor's powerful abil- 
ities as a speaker and writer other than those given in 
the foregoing pages, we propose to close our report of 
his official declarations with the above protest. He 
was present in his place in the State Senate during the 



84 John L, Helm. 

entire adjourned session of that body, which assembled 
at Frankfort on the 3d day of January, 1867, and which 
closed its sittings on the 11th day of March following. 

The most important act with which his name stands 
connected during the session referred to, was his report 
from the Committee on Federal Relations, presented on 
the 29th of January, 1867, favoring the call of a Conven- 
tion " to be held at an early day, in the city of Louisvillcy 
for the purpose of taking into consideration such measures 
as will promote the public welfare, maintain inviolable 
the Constitution of our fathers, the enforcement of consti- 
tutional law, and to bring to bear the whole power and 
influence of the National Democracy to the support of 
the President (Johnson) in his efljorts to restore the Union^ 
now dissevered by the unconstitutional and revolutionary 
acts of Congress." 

We come now to the last and crowning labor of Gov. 
Helm's life : the canvass he made for Governor immedi- 
ately preceding his last sickness and death. The Demo- 
cratic State Convention which met at Frankfort on the 
22d day of February, 1867, for the purpose of nominating 
suitable candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
Treasurer, Auditor, and other State offices, fixed its choice 
on John L. Helm for Governor and John W. Stevenson* 

•■■John W. Stevenson, of all the eminent politicians of Kentucky, undoubt- 
edly stands first at the present day, as well in position as in influence. He 
was born in Richmond, Virginia, and graduated at the University of Vir- 
ginia. Having prepared himself for the profession of the Law, he settled in 
Covington, Kentucky, in 1841, where he soon took high rank in the pi-ac- 
tice of the law. He served in the Kentucky State Legislature in 1845, 1846, 
and 1847, and was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention 
in 1849, in which he took a leading part. He was a member of the Demo- 
cratic National Conventions of 1848, 185'i, and 1856. He was twice Sena- 
torial Elector, and was one of three Commissioners appointed to revise the 
Civil and Criminal Code of Kentucky. He was elected from the Covington 
District a Representative to the Thirty-fifth Congress, and was a member of 
the Committee on Elections. He was elected also to the Thirty-sixth Con- 
gress, in which he served on the same committee. He was the nominee of 
the Kentucky State Democratic Convention of 1867, for the ofhce of Lieu- 



John L. Helm. 85 



for Lieutenant Governor. At the time referred to there 
were three distinct political organizations in Kentucky, 
viz : First, the Old Democratic party, which numbered in 
its ranks fully two thirds of the voters of the State ; sec- 
ond, the Union Conservative, or Third party, which was 
made up of timid Democrats, afraid to co-operate with 
the majority, lest, because of the latter's coalition with 
what was known as the " rebel element" of the State — a 
term given to those citizens that had taken an active 
part in the late civil war in favor of the South — evils 
should result to the State through the unfriendly legisla- 
tion of the dominant party in Congress; and third, the 
out-and-out Radical party, scarcely numbering one in ten 
of the entire population, and closely affiliated in senti- 
ment with the Congressional majority in respect to South- 
ern reconstruction. Judge William B. KixcAirj* was the 
candidate for Governor of the Third party men, and Col. 
Sidney Barnesj accepted a like position on the Radical 
ticket. 

tenant Governor, on tlie ticket with Governor Helm, anJ, in the canvass 
which followed, did eminent service to his party by addressing iiis fellow- 
citizens in different parts of the State. On the death of Governor Helm he 
became acting Governor. He was the candidate of the Democracy in the 
State election of the present year (1868) for the office of Governor, securing 
his election by the unprecedented majority of nearly ninety thousand votes. 
Governor Stkvenson is a ripe scholar, a lawyer of rare abilities, and is gen- 
erally regarded as the most able and finished public Speaker in the State. 

'■■•■ William B. Kincaid is a native of Woodford county, Kentucky. He is 
a fine lawyer, wealthy, and of high social position. He resides on his fHrm, 
near the city of Lexington, and practices in the courts of Woodford and the 
adjoining counties. We should judge Isis age to be from fifty-five to sixty 
years. For a brief period he sat on the bench of the Lexington Judicial 
District, having accepted the office from the late Governor Owsley to fill out 
the unespired term of a former incumbent. 

t Col. Sidney Barnes is a lawyer of distinction, practicing in the Courts 
of the Ninth Kentucky Congressional District. He is a native of Estill 
county, where he was born about the year 1821. He has never held any 
civil office under either the Federal Government or that of the State. He is 
aiow, however (October, 1868), a candidate for Congress in the District, ia 
opposition to G. M. Adams, the present Representative. Col. Barnes com- 
SDanded the Eighth Regiment of Kentucky Infantry in the late civil war. 



86 John L. Helm. 

Governor Helm, on accepting the nomination of his 
party friends assembled in Convention, deemed it a duty 
he owed to them and to the principles and policy by 
which he and they professed to be governed, to make a 
thorough canvass of the State. His immediate family, 
and others who had reason to fear that his physical 
strength was unequal to so laborious a work, in vain en- 
deavored to dissuade him from the undertaking. He was 
not to be moved, declaring that he " would go, though he 
were sure that it would kill him," as he "believed it to be 
imperatively necessary, under existing circumstances, that 
Kentucky should present a solid Democratic front in the 
approaching election." At another time, addressing one 
of his friends, he said : " Great trouble is brewing for 
Kentucky in the future, and I intend doing all in my 
power to prepare the people for it, that it may not take 
them by surprise and overwhelm them when it comes." 
To his brother, Rev. SuaiRE Helm, who added his en- 
treaties to those of his wife and children, imploring him 
to remain at home and to leave the prosecution of the 
canvass to younger men and to those more fitted to bear 
the labor it imposed, he answered: "I feel it to be my 
religious and patriotic duty to serve my country in any 
capacity I may be considered useful, though I should short- 
en my life in the effort." 

In due time he started out on his canvass, and prose- 
cuted it with a degree of energy that would have been in 
the highest degree praiseworthy, had he not, at the same 
time, been exhausting his vital powers and further aggra- 
vating, from day to day, a malady from which he had 
been long suffering, and which was eventually to deprive 
himself of life and the country of one of its most useful 
public servants. The end of the canvass found him 
completely prostrated in health, and he returned to his 
home only to seek the aid of his physician, with the hope 
of recuperating his seriously shattered physical constitu- 
tion. 



John L. Helm. 87 



The history of the events that followed the election of 
Governor Helm, up to the day of his death, occupying in 
their recurrence just thirty-three days, can best be related 
by one who was with him from the beginning of his sick- 
ness to the closing scene of his life. 

Among the late Governor's children, there is one that 
has long suffered from a distressing spinal affection. 
Mary Helm has for many years lived in a little world 
of her own, that extended only to the limits of " Helm 
Place," and that was peopled by the beings she most 
loved on earth — father and mother, brothers and sisters. 
Kind neighbors, to be sure, the young and the old, the 
happy of heart and the seriously inclined, would often 
pass hours by her bedside, with a half purpose, appa- 
rently, to amuse their bed-ridden friend, and another to 
learn of her how to suffer and still be patient and happy. 
Mary Helm's neatly written diary lies before us, and from 
it we take the loving daughter's pathetic account of her 
father's last days : 

" During the whole of the mountain canvass my father's 
health grew worse from day to day. When he at last 
returned to his home, after the election was over, he 
greatly complained of a sense of weariness. He thought 
a few days of rest and quiet would restore him to his 
wonted health. The days passed, bat the weariness con- 
tinued, and he was heard to say, ' I greatly fear I have 
broken myself down.' 

" When the election returns were coming in and he 
saw the majorities rising with every mail that came to 
hand, and every flash of the telegraph, his gratification 
was greater than I had ever known it to be on any 
similar occasion. He appreciated with honest pride the 
honor that had been conferred upon him by the people ; 
and he appeared, also, to keenly feel the responsibility he 
had assumed. He loved Kentucky better than his life, 
and he seemed to be filled with sad forebodings for the 



88 John L. Helm. 



future of his beloved State. During the few days that 
he was her Governor, he expressed with intense feeling 
his determination, ' come weal or woe,' to guard her 
liberties and her rights, and to resist any invasion of 
either, no matter from what quarter it might come. 

" His health did not improve ; yet no one, save my 
mother, seemed to fear that anything serious ailed him, 
and when she gave expression to her apprehensions, we 
were all very much surprised and distressed. But seeing 
him still occupying himself in the affairs of the farm, 
sometimes engaged in writing, and occasionally even 
walking over the place, we would not be convinced that 
his disease was fast sapping the foundations of his life. 
He took interest in conversing with his friends, was often 
cheerful, and, on one occasion, rode into town for the 
purpose of attending to some legal business. The con- 
sequences of this act showed its imprudence. The heat 
of the crowded court-house and the fatigue he under- 
went in endeavoring to settle the business in hand, were 
too much for his strength. He was seized with a violent 
attack of vertigo, and reaching his home with difficulty, 
he laid down upon that bed from which he was destined 
never more to rise. The family physician, Dr. Slaughter, 
being sent for, he found the case so alarming as to induce 
him to call to his assistance other medical men, among 
whom were Dr. J. L. Helm, of Louisville, and the Govern- 
or's brother. Dr. Wm. D. Helm, of Bowling Green. 

" The physicians treated my father for an affection of 
the brain, though he was undoubtedly suffering as well 
from other ailments. In a few days he appeared to be 
much restored, so much so, indeed, as to announce his 
determination to go to Frankfort to be inaugurated. He 
appealed to his physicians to do all they could to give 
him strength to bear the fatigue of this journey, as he 
' must be there.' His physicians shook their heads, and 
his family and friends remonstrated with him against 



John L. Helm. 89 

such a proceeding; but he was immovable in his deter- 
mination to make the effort, cost what it might. His 
strong will had borne him through many difficulties, 
and I really thought it would be equal to the task he 
contemplated in this instance. He might have made 
the attempt, had it not been for my mother, who, with 
prudent firmness, took the matter into her own hands. 
Without consulting my father, she addressed a letter to 
Col. Samuel B. Churchill* (having been apprised of her 
husband's intention to make him his Secretary of State), 
informing him fully of her husband's condition, and re- 
questing him, if the thing was legal and possible, to so 
arrange as to have the inauguration take place at Helm 
Place. In a few days she received Colonel Churchill's 
answer, and was glad to learn that the plan she had 
proposed was both legal and possible ; that every ar- 
rangement should be made to carry it into efiect, and 
that the Hon. Thos. E. Bramlette,-|- the retiring Gov- 
ernor, would be present at the inauguration. 

*Col. Churchill is n, native of Louisville, Kentucky, where he was born 
in 1813. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown. He adopted 
the profession of the law, and, shortly after obtaining his license to practice, 
removed to St. Louis, Mo., where he acquired an extended legal practice, 
and was a noted Democratic politician. He served for several terms in the 
Missouri Stale Legislature, and was Postmaster in St. Louis for a number 
of years. When the war broke out he was regarded as a " Southern sym- 
pathizer," and suffered much in consequence, being several times imprisoned) 
and finally ordered to leave the State. Through the intervention of friends 
in this State, Col. Churchill was permitted to remove with his family to 
Kentucky, and has since resided in Frankfort. He was appointed Secretary 
of State by Governor Helm, and he still retains the same position under his 
successor. 

JThe Hon. Thomas E. Beajiletth was born in 1817 at Elliott's Cross 
Roads, Clinton county, Kentucky. His father was the late Hon. A. S. 
Bramlettb, who represented his county in the Legislature for many years, 
and was also returned twice from his district to the State Senate. Governor 
Bramlette is by profession a lawyer, and has acquired much distinction 
at the bar. When only twenty-four years of age, he was elected to the 
Lower House of the General Assembly. In 1848 he received from Gov- 
ernor Crittenden the appointment of Commonwealth's Attorney for his 



90 John L. Helm. 

" Well pleased at the success of her scheme, my mother 
laid the whole matter before her husband, who, having in 
the meantime become fully conscious of his inability to 
take the journey to Frankfort, answered her : ' You have 
done wisely and well, my love.' I think he was now 
gradually growing worse every day. His sufferings 
were apparently becoming more and more intense, and 
if aroused to talk at all, the only subjects that seemed 
to interest him were the political situation of parties 
and the condition of the country. His thoughts seemed 
to be constantly running on matters of State. One day 
some one very imprudently read to him an account of a 
recent outrage perpetrated on a Southern community by 
Federal officials. He became violently excited, and his 
voice, suddently raised to its healthful compass, rung out 
in denunciation of the act, and of those whose reckless 
disregard for constitutional law had made such an act 
possible. He was mvich worse after this occurrence, and 
all reference to political subjects was from this time inter- 
dicted in the sick-room. 

" The 3d of September, the day fixed for the inaugura- 
tion, came at length. Preparations had been made in the 

Judicial District. In the Presidential contest of 1853, between Franklin 
Pierce and Gen. Winpielu Scott, he served as District Elector on the 
Whig ticket. He was afterwards nominated for Congress bj the Whig 
party of the district, but was beaten in the race by a trifling majority, by 
the Hon. James Chrisman. In 1856 he was elected Judge of his Judicial 
District, which office he held up to the beginning of the late civil war, when 
he resigned it in order to raise a regiment under the authority of the United 
States Government. He commanded the regiment so raised — the Third Ken- 
tucky Infiintry — up to July, 1862, when he retired from the array. In the 
spring of 1863, Mr. Lincoln proffered him the position of United States 
Attorney for the district, which he accepted and held until he received the 
nomination of the Union party of Kentucky for the office of Governor of 
the State. He made the race in 1863, against the Hon. Charles A. Wick- 
LiFFE, the Democratic 'candidate, and was elected. He filled the office of 
Governor till the end of the term, September, 1867, with much fidelity and 
greatly to the satisfaction of all parties. On retiring from the office, he 
removed to Louisville, where he is now engaged in an extensive legal 
practice. 



John L. Helm, 91 



town for a grand display. Special trains brought in large 
numbers of friends and political admirers, from Louis- 
ville, Frankfort, and other cities and towns of the State ; 
crowds Hocked into the town from Ilai'din and the sur- 
rounding counties, all anx'ious to witness the inaugural 
ceremonies. At 11 o'clock a procession was formed in 
the town, and, preceded by a band of musicians, took up 
its march toward Helm Place. Before they had gone 
half the distance, they were met by one of the physicians, 
who begged them to desist. Absolute quiet was necessa- 
ry, and the music and shouting would be apt to excite his 
patient to such a degree as to render him physically un- 
able to undergo the fatigue of the ceremony in which he 
had necessarily to take a part. Only those officers of 
State whose presence was necessary were permitted to 
enter the sick-room. 

" That inauguration of a dying man was the saddest, 
as well as the most impressive, scene I ever witnessed. 
Propped up in his bed, his features worn and haggard 
from disease, and his hands lying in weakness beside him, 
it was a scene to make one's heart ache — and ache mine 
did, as 1 gazed through my tears on my father's pallid face. 
But the old spirit shone out of his eyes, and the strong 
will, for a time, overcame the weakness that had resulted 
from disease. He spoke to his friends as they approached 
his bedside, and expressed to each and all the pleasure he 
felt in their presence. To Governor Brami.ette, especial- 
ly, he expressed his grateful sense of the kindness he had 
shown in coming so far. On one side of the bed stood 
Gov. Bramlette, Judge Wintersmith, and Col. Churchill, 
while on the other stood my mother and the attending 
physicians. Grouped around were the members of his 
family, with his two sons-in-law, Judge H. W. Bruce and 
Major T. H. Hays, together with a few intimate friends, 
among whom were Judge Alvin Duvall, the Hon. John 
Rodman, and Major Fayette HEwrrT. 



92 John L. Helm. 



"While Judge Wintersmith was administering to him 
the oath of office, every one listened in breathless silence, 
and seemed to be duly impressed with the solemnity of 
the occasion. He became very faint, and it was only after 
a stimulent had been given him that he had strength to 
sign his name. After this, he handed to Col. Churchill 
his commission as Secretary of State. Judge Duvall 
stepped forward and asked : ' Do you authorize Colonel 
Churchill to sign appointments?' He answered, in a 
distinct manner, 'I authorize Sam. Churchill' — placing a 
strong emphasis on the Christian name, and showing his 
consciousness of the fact that Colonel had no significance 
in a legal document. He was totally unable to sign the 
appointments of Col. Wolford* and Maj. Hewitt, though 
they had both been prepared, and were ready for his sig- 
nature. Seeing that nothing further could be done, all 
left the room, and proceeded to Elizabethtown, where the 
Inaugural Address was read. 

" It was apparent to us all, long before nightfall of the 
3d, that his disease wore a more alarming aspect, and 
that he was sinking fast. The physicians declared, if a 

* Colonel Frank Wolfokd is a Kentuckian by birth, having been born, if 
we mistaice not, in the county of Casey, in 1818. He served with distinc- 
tion in the war with Mexico. In the late civil strife he proffered his 
services to the Federal Government, and raised a regiment of troops, which 
was afterwards known as the First Kentucky, or "Wolford's Cavalry." He 
proved himself a gallant and a meritorious officer, saw hard service, and 
was several times wounded in battle. In 1864 he was dismissed the 
service on the alleged grounds of having expressed, in a public speech, 
"disloyal sentiments.'' Colonel Wolford thought the war should be carried 
on for the precise objects stated in the famous resolution of Congress, 
solemnly declared after the first great battle of the war — to bring back 
the old Union of the States, under the Constitution, and not for purposes 
of vengeance, or to insure the success of any political party, or the 
ascendency of one section over the other. During the war he was arrest- 
ed by orders of the Government, and was for some time confined in the 
Newport, Kentucky, Military Prison. He served in the State Legislature 
during the sessions of 1865 and 1866. After the death of Governor Helm 
that gentleman's successor commissioned him Adjutant General of the 
State, a position which he still holds. 



John L. Helm. 93 



change for the better did not occur within the next twen- 
four-hoiirs, it was impossible that he should live. Oh, 
how terrible was the anxiety with which we watched be- 
side him, M^aiting and hoping- for that ' change for the 
better,' which never came ! Kind and faithful friends — 
God's blessing rest upon them for it — united with his 
family in doing all they could to assuage his suflerings, 
which had now grown so grievous that he drew his breath 
laboringly, groaning pitifully with each aspiration. It 
was all in vain. Hourly he grew worse, until, on Thurs- 
day morning, he had lost even the power of speech. On 
Thursday night his brother, Rev. SauiRE Helm, reached 
his bedside. He was immediately recognized, though my 
father was unable to utter his name. It was sufficiently 
evident to all of us, from the manner in which he followed 
him with his eyes, that he was greatly pleased to have 
this brother, whom he had himself raised from early child- 
hood, and for whom he had felt at once a father's and a 
brother's love, near him in his last moments. For many 
years he had been in the habit of talking freel}- with him 
on the subject of religion, and no one knew better than 
he the sincerity of my dear father's faith in the Saviour 
of the world. 

"On Friday morning we ceased even to hope. They 
told us that the texture of the brain was broken, and we 
knew the end to be near. They said he might die that 
day, or he might live until the next. He had been speech- 
less now for twenty-four hours, and none may know^ the 
anguish of heart with which we looked upon him, lying 
prostrate on his bed, and unable even to move, gasping 
out feeble moans between his parted lips, yet knowing 
that he was still conscious, by the earnest, almost beseech- 
ing look, with which his eyes follow^ed us as we moved 
silently around his bed. Oh, yes; he still recognized the 
faces of those he loved — still had us in his eye and in his 
heart. 



94 John L. Helm. 

" That morning, at 9 o'clock, we were all gathered to- 
gether in his room — wife and children, brothers and sister, 
relatives and friends, and some of the old family serv- 
ants. We all kneeled around his bed, while his brother 
read and prayed. He seemed interested, checked his deep 
groanings, and listened intently to the passages that were 
read from God's Holy Word and to the touching prayer 
that was offered in his behalf to the Throne of Grace. 
When the prayer was finished, he fixed his eyes upon his 
brother with a longing meaning. In answer to this, the 
latter asked : ' Brother John, are you willing to die ? ' No 
answer came, and we could not tell whether it was be- 
cause he could not speak or because he was unwilling to 
do so. I think, myself, that he was examining his own 
heart ; for, when Uncle Helm again addressed him, ' Broth- 
er John, are you willing to trust in God?' he moved his 
lips, and after a moment's efibrt to speak, answered dis- 
tinctly, ' Yes.' Oh, how that little word thrilled our hearts! 
It was the first time he had spoken for a whole day, and 
in hushed silence we listened as his brother again asked : 
' Brother John, is your trust in Christ ? ' and again the 
answer came, clearer and louder than before, ' Yes ! ' 
This was heard distinctly all over the room, and we re- 
joiced to know that it was from his heart of hearts that 
he made his confession of faith in Christ the Redeemer. 
Yet this was no death-bed confession. All his life he had 
been an humble believer in C4od and His Christ. To 
those dearest to him he had before professed that faith, 
and it was only because of his humility that he had not 
professed it publicly. 

" His daughters came and each pressed a kiss upon his 
poor pallid lips. Then came our mother, and bending 
over him, said in heart-touching, broken accents : ' Kiss 
me — do you kiss mc, my husband, once more.' With an 
effort he pressed his lips to hers. It was the last kiss he 
ever gave her. Turning away, she saw their oldest 



John L. Helm. 95 



living son, John L. Helm, sitting bowed in grief, in a far 
corner of the room. She called to him to come and bid 
his father good-bye. Sobbing, he answered : ' Ma, I can- 
not, cannot do it.' She then spoke to the youngest, a boy 
of sixteen, M'ho came and knelt beside his bed. Much 
agitated, his father placed his trembling hand upon his 
head, and fervently exclaimed : ' God bless my son Tom- 
MiE.' Hearing this, John also threw himself on his knees 
beside his brother, and as he did so, his father's hand was 
lifted to his head. Gazing upon the face of this son, upon 
whom he had expected to lean as the staff of his old age, 
and to whose care he had left his soon-to-be Mddowed 
mother, his heart seemed to be stirred within him to its 
lowest depths, and again his voice was lifted up in 
prayer: 'God bless this, my son.' The second living 
son taking his brother's place, again the self-same scene 
was enacted, and the self-same prayer evoked upon his 
head. Once only, afterwards, did he open his lips to 
speak, and then he enunciated the single word Ma! 
showing that his mind, reverting to the days of his own 
childliood, was losing its hold on the things that had 
occupied and intei'ested him since he had set out on 
the serious business of life. 

" All through the rest of the day and night he lay in a 
kind of stupor, but toward the morning of Saturday, 
having slept a little, he awoke apparently better. Hope 
again visited our hearts, and a dispatch was sent to Dr. 
FoREE, of Louisville, begging his immediate attendance. 
About nine o'clock we again gathered about his bed for 
prayer, and again my father ceased to groan and listened, 
with apparently deeper interest than before, to the earn- 
est supplications made to God in his behalf. He had 
entirely lost the power of speech ; but oh, if you could 
have seen his face as his brother spoke of the love of 
God for sinners, and of His rich mercy through Christ 
Jesus, who had said, ' He that cometh to me, I will in no 



96 John L. Helm. 

wise cast out,' you would have thought it that of one 
ah-eady glorified. All sensation of pain appeared to 
have left him — a sweet smile played around his lips, and 
from his eyes shone out a holy, happy, peaceful light, that 
was indicative of a spirit at rest in God — of a heart 
possessed of ' that peace which passeth all understand- 
ing.' I will never forget that expression, for never before 
had I seen it on mortal face. My heart stood still within 
me. Looking around, I saw that every eye in the room, 
as had been my own, was fixed with breathless interest 
upon the face that lay so calm and peaceful before us. 
An indescribable look of awe pervaded the features of 
all save his own. Upon these seemed to rest a halo as 
of the glory of the blessed. I know not how long this 
scene lasted, for I took no note of time. I only know 
that after a while they said he slept. 

" All day Saturday we thought him slightly better ; but 
with the evening came Dr. Foree, and the result of the 
consultation of physicians which followed blasted all our 
hopes : ' It was impossible that he should recover.' As 
the Sabbath dawn approached, he was observed to be 
fast sinking. The lamp of his life had almost gone out, 
and hour after hour we stood and watched its flickering 
flame. All through that Sabbath morning we watched 
and waited, with aching hearts, as the struggle went on. 
For many hours he had been wrestling with Death, and 
now that mighty conqueror would be put ofl' no longer. 
The pulse grew feebler, the meanings fainter, and as the 
sun marked the hour of noon, the summons came. With 
a quiver of his mortal frame, the spirit departed and 
ascended to the God who gave it. I saw his beloved 
features once again when he lay in his coffin. The 
smile that 1 had noted the day before was still there, and 
it was a joy to us all to observe it, speaking to our hearts 
as it did of the happy passage he had made into that life 
which is eternal." 



John L. Helm. 97 



To the above touching account of Governor Helm's 
last illness and death we have little need to add any- 
thing. The house of mourning was visited by hundreds 
while his coffined body lay w^aiting for the solemn con- 
signment of " dust to dust." Among these visitors were 
many farmers from the county, with their wives and 
children, who had known him all their lives. With faces 
bathed in tears, they would lead their sons, mostly farmer 
boys, to the coffin, and bid them look upon the face of one 
who had once been himself a farmer boy, and who died 
the Governor of the Commonwealth. It was a double 
lesson that they seemed anxious to inculcate upon the 
minds of their children. They wished to show them, in 
the first place, that the end-all of their existence here 
on earth would find them, no matter what stations they 
should occupy in life, reduced to the condition of him 
whose remains lay before them. They desired, in the 
second place, to teach them that the only success in the 
affairs of life that was w^orthy of a good man's ambition, 
was that which is the guerdon of a life of virtue and of 
talents wisely directed. 

The funeral took place on the 11th. The morning train 
from Louisville had brought a large number of friends of 
the lamented dead. Crowds came in from the country to 
witness the last funeral rites over the remains of their 
fellow-citizen, who had in his life-time shown himself to 
be so sincerely their friend, and the consistent advocate 
of their interests. They came to show^ their respect for 
the man, and to do honor to the office to which the 
people had so reaently elevated him. Most of the State 
officials who had come to his inauguration were present 
at his funeral. The scene in and about Elizabethtown 
was mournfully impressive and deeply respectful to the 
deceased. Upon every face was depicted the sincerest 
grief. The court-house and many other buildings, public 
and private, were draped in black, and, at several points, 
7 



98 John L. Helm. 



the avenues through which the procession was expected 
to pass were crossed by festoons of crape. The church 
bells tolled their measured knell, as if speaking from their 
mid-air steeples to a sorrowing world. The members of 
Morrison Lodge, No. 76, of the Masonic Fraternity, to 
which the late Governor had been attached, headed by a 
band playing a funeral dirge, and followed by a large 
concourse of citizens and strangers, formed in procession 
and slowly marched from the town to Helm Place, 

A march of a mile and a quarter brought the proces- 
sion to the family mansion of the deceased Governor. 
So immense was the concourse that comparatively few 
could gain admission to the house. The State officials, 
the clergy, the pall-bearers, and some others, gathered 
with the bereft family around the form of the Governor, 
now " hearsed in death," and after many last fond looks 
upon his placid, memorable features, the funeral service 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church was begun. This 
service was brief and simple, but indelibly affecting. It 
consisted in the reading of the 19th Psalm, the 15th Chap- 
ter of Paul to the Corinthians, and the offering of a 
singularly appropriate and eloquent prayer — ^11 by the 
Rev. A. L. Alderson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

After the exercises at the residence, the procession was 
reorganized. The corpse was taken in charge by the 
Masonic pall-bearers, and by them conveyed in the pre- 
scribed order of march to the family burying-ground, on 
a commanding eminence distant from the house about 
one thousand yards. When the rites'of the church were 
concluded at the grave, the honors of Masonry, in all 
their imposing solemnity, were conferred by Worshipful 
Master Fayette HEwrrT, Rev, E. B. Smith, Masonic 
Chaplain, and the brethren in attendance. And thus 
closed the final tributes of love and respect to the mem- 
ory of Kentucky's fallen chief. 



John L. Helm. 99 

Our task is nearly finished. It remains for us but to 
give, in a condensed form, from the mass of evidence that 
is before us — letters from his friends, eulogiums delivered 
on the occasion of his death, and newspaper criticisms of 
his public life — our own estimate of Gov. Helim's charac- 
ter as a man and as a public servant. We shall neither 
begin nor end by saying that he was faultless. He was 
human, and it is human to err. He had been taught self- 
reliance from his youth, and this continued to be a lead- 
ing characteristic with him to the end of his life. He had, 
doubtless, too little regard for the advice of others, and 
often gave offense by exhibiting more confidence in his 
own judgment than in that of those from whose greater 
experience he might have benefited. 

He was reserved in his manners, and, by those who did 
not know him intimately, was often mistaken for a proud 
and haughty man. In truth, there was no one that w^as 
less so. He held that man to be his social inferior only 
who was willing to lower himself by the commission of 
acts degrading to humanity. His habit of thinking and 
acting for himself on all occasions gave to his manner of 
speaking a certain air of egotism that was foreign to his 
real character. 

Governor Helm was seen to best advantage in his own 
home. Here, surrounded by wife and children, and bask- 
ing, as it were, in the sun-light of their love, his manners 
lost all their stiffness, and he entered into all their little 
plans for amusement with the readiness and simplicity of 
a child. His affection for his wife and children was beau- 
tiful to behold. To gratify either — whether it was in the 
purchase of a keepsake, or to walk a mile to gather a 
nosegay for his wife or his invalid daughter, or to do any 
little service to please either one of his children — he would 
willingly put himself to trouble*, and he valued not the 
cost. A friend writes : 

" It would have done you good to see Gov. Helm in the 
midst of his family. His very presence appeared to give 



100 John L. Helm. 

joy to all around him ; and to see his household happy was 
his own greatest delight. On all such occasions, whether 
the time was spent in instructive discourse, having for its 
object the welfare of his children, or in relating anecdotes 
and incidents connected with the settlement of the coun- 
try and the personal histories of the early pioneers, or 
drawn from his own recollections of the past, he seemed 
to feel as if he was enjoying himself to the fullest bent 
of nature. He was not of the class of parents of whom 
their children are always shy, and sometimes afraid. His 
daily intercourse with them had in it that pleasant famil- 
iarity which emboldened them to give him their fullest 
confidence, and to depend upon his judgment in all mat- 
ters of moment to themselves." 

The uniform confidence placed in Governor Helm by 
the people of Hardin county, during his entire public life, 
is, perhaps, the most extraordinary feature of his whole 
history. He was eleven times elected to serve the people 
of Hardin in the Lower House of the General Assembly 
of Kentucky, and on six of these occasions he M^as elected 
by his fellow-members to preside over their deliberations. 
Three times he was returned by his Senatorial District to 
the Upper House of the General Assembly. When he 
ran for Congress against Willis Green, and was defeated, 
Hardin county was still true to him. She was equally 
true to him in his contests for the offices of Lieutenant 
Governor in 1848, and Governor in 1867. We can draw 
from this remarkable fact but one conclusion : his fellow- 
citizens regarded him as possessing talents of a high 
order, and they knew him to be both faithful and honest. 

From what has been written, it will be seen that Gov. 
Helm's public career was a long one. He served the 
State and the people faithfully ; and yet he died impov- 
erished, except in good "name. He was not of the class 
of officials, of whom we have heard something in these 
latter days of the Republic, who are in the habit of using 



John L. Helm. 101 

their positions for purposes of self-aggrandizement. He 
never touched a dollar of the people's money for which 
he had not rendered honest service. In these days of 
official misrule and of official neglect of public interests, 
we hold it to be a high compliment to his memory to say 
of him, as we do, that in every position of trust held by 
him throughout his public life, he labored earnestly and 
perseveringly, not for himself or for selfish purposes, but 
for those, and the interests of those, whom he represented. 
His immediate family may well consider that, though he 
served not himself in serving his State and the nation, 
and though, on leaving the world, he left to them none of 
its riches, he was still able to bequeath them as honorable 
a name as was ever yet written on the scrolls of his coun- 
try's history. 

Our task is ended. " Governor Helm is in his grave ! 
Calmly he slumbers beneath the soil of his beloved native 
county. Embowered in the peaceful shade of his own 
forest trees, through whose evergreen boughs the gentle 
autumn winds chant their low, sad requiem, the hero lies 
in the embrace of that profound sleep that knows no 
w^aking. A bereaved family, friends, community. State, 
and nation, grieve that one of earth's best and purest and 
brightest spirits has winged its flight from their presence 
forever."* 

* George D. Prkntice. 



APPENDIX. 



STATE OF KENTUCKY, ; 

Hardin Court of Common Pleas. ) 

The above Court being in session at the court-house in 
Elizabethtown, on Monday, 9th of September, 1867, the 
following proceedings were had in said Court: 

The death of our lamented fellow-citizen. His Excel- 
lency, John L. Helm, Governor of the State, at his resi- 
dence in this county, at half-past 12 o'clock on yesterday, 
the 8th of September, 1867, was announced in Court by 
Col. W. B. Read, a member of the bar. 

On his motion, a committee of three members of the 
bar was appointed by the Court to draft resolutions suit- 
able to the occasion, to-wit: W. B. Read, M. H. Cofer, 
and Tim. G. Needham, Esqs. 

The committee reported the following preamble and 
resolutions, which were unanimously adopted by the bar, 
officers, and the jury of the Court, to-wit : 

Whereas, The Court and members of this bar have 
learned of the death of His Excellency John L. Helm, 
and believing that God in His inscrutable providence 
does all things well, and as a mark of our high appre- 
ciation of his inestimable worth as a citizen, friend, law- 
yer, and statesman — 

1. Resolved, That in him we recognized all the high 
qualities M^hich served to adorn the citizen, lawyer, and 
statesman ; and in his death humanity has lost a friend, 
the profession a superior light, and the State a noble 
Chief Magistrate. 

2. That we sympathize with his sorely bereaved family 
in the loss of a kind husband and father; and, as a token 



Appendix. 103 

of our respect and esteem, we will attend his funeral in a 
body, and wear for thirty days the usual badge of mourn- 
ing. 

3. That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be 
spread upon the order books of the Court, and the clerk 
is requested to furnish a copy of the same to his family. 

4. That a copy be furnished the Louisville papers for 
publication, and others in the State are requested to 
copy. 

His Honor Chas. G. Wintersmith, Judge of the Court, 
from the bench pronounced an address and eulogy upon 
the lamented dead. 

The greater portion of the honorable gentleman's ad- 
dress referred to matters that have already been adverted 
to in the foregoing pages. The residue of the address is 
appended : 

" Before entering upon the records of this Court the 
resolutions presented and adopted with perfect unanimity 
by the bar, officers, and jury of the Court, all neighbors 
and associates of our departed friend, I hope I may be 
indulged in giving utterance to the feelings and senti- 
ments which inspire my bosom at this moment. 

" The death of His Excellency, John Larue Helm, 
Governor of Kentucky, is no ordinary event. He was 
no ordinary man. As a friend and relative, I have 
known him from my earliest childhood. His mother 
and my mother were cousins and loving friends; when 
children, they emigrated together from the Shenandoah 
Valley of Virginia, and their parents settled on Nolynn, 
within one mile of each other. Upon its banks they 
were reared in a close intimacy, which existed during 
life. Their children maintained the same intimacy. The 
county of Larue was named in honor of his maternal 
grandfather, John Larue, and its county seat was named 
in honor of my maternal grandfather, Robert Hodgen, 
they having resided in Virginia and Kentucky in close 



104 Appendix. 

proximity for many years, and were bound to each other 
in the ties of a most cordial and intimate friendship. 

" Having known Gov. Helm so long and so well, I feel 
that I may well bear testimony to his great private and 
public worth. 

"In 1867 he was called to the Chief Magistracy of the 
State, in which elevated position, on his sick bed, he was 
installed on Tuesday, September 3, 1867, and now, within 
one short week, we mourn the announcement that he is 
no more, but is removed to another sphere ; and we have 
good reason to hope and believe his removal has been 
from gloom to a happy-resting place in the bosom of his 
Heavenly Father. We bow with humble, though sad 
submission, to the great fiat which none can gainsay or 
disobey. 

" I regard him as a martyr to the zeal, energy, industry, 
and anxiety which he felt it was an imperative duty he 
should exercise in undertaking a canvass for what he 
believed the right, at the call of his fellow-citizens, be- 
yond his physical power. As a result, while the laurel 
encircles his brow, the cypress is wreathed over the 
casket which incloses his inanimate form. He began 
his political life an unequivocal, true, and ardent devotee 
of constitutional liberty and government, administered 
in the protection of citizen and State rights, and in the 
advancement of general public good. He made these 
the polar star of his manhood. In his maturer years — 
in his old age — when he believed in the honesty of his 
heart, and thought that he had good reason to believe, 
that mighty efforts, with prospect of success, were being 
made for their destruction, in one grand effort to avert 
the dire calamity, he has yielded up his life a sacrifice 
upon the altar of his country. 

" Associated with Governor Helm from the time of my 
admission to the bar, I have ever found him prompt and 



Appendix, 105 

zealous in his client's cause — bold and fearless in the 
defense of right, and a very powerful and effective advo- 
cate. 

" As a man, in all the relations of life he commanded 
the admiration of all who knew him personally or by 
reputation. 

" In his domestic relations, he was exemplary, kind, 
affectionate, generous, and faithful to all his marital and 
parental obligations. 

" In social intercourse, he was courteous and concilia- 
tory. 

" In his friendships, he was true and loyal. 

" As a neighbor, he was accommodating, social, hospi- 
table, and charitable. 

" As a citizen, he was quiet, peaceful, avoiding all 
private and public piques and quarrels, pursuing the 
paths of peace, and always with a heart full of public 
spirit. 

" Pertinacious in maintaining- his own opinions, he free- 
ly yielded to all others the same right unquestioned ; and 
all his argumentations with his fellow-men were charac- 
terized by fairness, mildness, and candor. In his dealings 
he was honest and upright. His tongue was never heard 
in aspersion of other men. He was a man of high moral 
character, eschewing even all the smallest vices to which 
so many men are addicted — never profane, never using 
stimulating and intoxicating beverages, never engaging 
in play for money. In short, as a practical moralist, he 
was a model man. 

"Such a man was John Larue Helm; and now he de- 
scends to the tomb, with honors thick upon him, amidst 
the deep and sad regrets of a vast multitude of friends 
and admirers, with a record of public services which will 
be an enduring monument to his frame, and a reputation 
and character so spotless that it will ever be a source of 



106 Appendix. 

comfort, consolation, and pride to his family, his friends, 
his State, and his country. 

" 'Sic iter ad astra.' 

" May we who survive him be able to feel, ' when life's 
last lingering sun goes feebly down and death comes to 
our door,' that naught but good can be said of us. 

" With no ordinary feelings of satisfaction, though 
mournful, do I realize the power to order that the resolu- 
tions passed and presented be spread upon the records of 
this Court, and therefore I order it to be done." 



TRIBUTE BY MORRISON LODGE. 

Whereas, It has pleased the Supreme Grand Master to 
summons from our midst our much esteemed brother, 
John L. Helm, whose virtues have long been the pride of 
his Lodge, and whose shining example of uprightness and 
integrity has been a jewel in the Temple of Universal 
Masonry ; be it 

1. Resolved, That while the coffin, the spade, and the 
melancholy grave, remind us that our brother has gone 
from the portals of our Lodge forever, we will treasure 
up in our hearts the recollection of his many manly vir- 
tues, and of his noble nature, and strive to imitate his 
worthy example of high morality and unselfish generosi- 

ty- 

2. That in the death of him we mourn to-day this Lodge 
has lost a true and noble member, whose high morality and 
dignified and lofty character made him one of the shining 
lights of the Order ; his family has lost a kind and devoted 
husband and father ; this community one it has ever de- 
lighted to honor, and who never proved untrue to the trust 
reposed in him; the State has lost a Chief Magistrate 
whose long experience in her afl^airs, and unbending in- 



Appendix. 107 

tegrity and lofty patriotism in every place of public trust, 
gave the highest guarantee of a prosperous and just ad- 
ministration ; the nation has lost a patriot and a states- 
man who had few superiors in intellect, and few equals 
in integrity of purpose. 

3. That we tender to his stricken family the most sin- 
cere sympathy in this dark hour of their sorrow and afflic- 
tion. Though he is gone from them and us, he will live 
long in the recollection of those who knew him, and who 
will delight to honor his name and his memory. 

4. That a copy of these resolutions be furnished the 
family of our deceased brother, and also to the press of 
the State for publication. 



ABSTRACT FROM GOVERNOR HELM'S WILL, WRITTEN AND 
SIGNED NOVEMBER 15, 1865. 

"Assuming it as probable that the Government of the 
United States will, by force and fraud, against and in con- 
tempt of right and justice, of law and the Constitutions, 
vState and National, and all law, civil or moral, deprive 
my representatives of their labor [that of his slaves], I 
place those who have and may remain on my place, at 
the disposal of my wife and son, John Helm. I request 
that such as remain faithful and obedient shall remain in 
the service of the family on such terms as may be agreed 
upon. I regard this act of the Government, looking to it 
in all its bearings and consequences, the greatest crime of 
this or any other age. 

" In view of all the consequences which, in my honest 
judgment, would flow from it, I was fixed and unalterable 
in my opposition to the late unhappy and desolating war; 
and now, in the performance of this solemn act, I thank 
God, in the sincerity of my heart, that he gave that direction 



108 Appendix. 

to my mind. No man that lived and breathed was more 
devotedly attached to the union of the States, as formed by 
the compact — the Constitution, as made by our fathers — 
than I was. I hold that it was formed by the free and 
unconstrained will of the people, and depended for its 
perpetuity on the virtue and intelligence of the people, 
the fraternal affection of the sections, and the promotion 
of their mutual welfare. I was for peaceful adjustment, 
and against war, believing as I did, and now do, that war 
would be, and now believe is, practical dissolution, un- 
authorized by the Constitution, and against the spirit and 
genius of our form of government. The South was con- 
quered ; but, in my firm couviction, the A'orth will sooner 
or later learn that it is the whipped party. 

" The race of intellectual giants has passed off the 
stage. The moral tone of the people is gone. Corrup- 
tion and vice will rule the hour and the day. The masses 
of the people have lost confidence in the rulers of the 
Government. They place no reliance in their justice and 
honor. This is a melancholy picture ; but my mind is 
made up that the future of this Government will have a 
downward tendency, and ultimately, and at no very dis- 
tant day, will result in disintegration or a centralized des- 
potism. 

" This is an unseemly place to introduce my political 
opinions. I do it to solemnly impress my family with my 
opinions, and in the firm hope that they will stand by the 
form of Government as it came from the hands of our 
Revolutionary fathers, and oppose modern reforms. I 
believe the Abolitionists, as a political party, capable of 
any crime — possessing no redeeming quality." 

" The annexed tribute to Kentucky's Martyr Chief," 
says the editor of the Louisville Journal, from whose 
columns we extract it, " is from a hand well worthy to 
bind a funeral wreath upon the brow of the noble dead : 



Appendix. 109 

"our martyr. 

"The bitter blast was blowing, 

The waves rose mountain high, 
"When our gallant Captain took the deck, 

Resolved to do or die. 
He held his post by the main mast. 

He flung his flag to the breeze, 
And his ringing voice was heard by all 

Above the surging seas. 

"That voice gave strength and courage 

To every man of the crew ; 
They manned the ropes, they furled the sails, • 

As his trumpet bade them do. 
And the ship was brought to harbor. 

And safe at anchor swung, 
Before the eyes of the multitude, 

'iMid the cheers of old and young. 

"Laden with sacred treasures. 

More dear to every heart 
Than gold or gems, was the Argosy, 

Our Captain brought to port. 
And the people held high revel, 

And the board of state was spread. 
And they bade the ship's commander then 

Come forth and take the head! 

"But the seat they placed was empty, 

And the wine was poured in vain. 
He had given his life to save their ship 

(That life without a stain). 
He dies the death of the martyr, 

As he lived the life of the brave. 
And the hand that wreathed his civic crown, 

Consigned him to the grave. 

"We shall have other Captains, 

And our good ship long shall ride 
Beyond the reach of the bitter blast, 

Or the ebb of the envious tide; 
But let it ne'er be forgotten. 

Whatever betide our realm, 
That the leader that gave his life for us, 

Was our bulwark and our '■ IlelmJ 
"Beechmore, Sept. 10, 1867." 



110 Appendix. 



THE INAUGURAL CEREMONIES. 

Owing to Governor Helm's illness, as has already been 
seen, the ceremonies of his inauguration took place at 
Elizabethtovvn, Kentucky, on the 3d day of September, 
18G7. From Governor Thos. E. Bramlette's Valedictory 
Address, made on the occasion, we extract the following 
passages : 

" Fellow-Citizens : By appointment of the Constitution 
of ' the Commonwealth of Kentucky,' this day termi- 
nates my official relations with the people of my native 
State, and inaugurates the administration of my much- 
esteemed friend and successor, His Excellency, John L. 
Helm, who has been chosen, in accordance with the Con- 
stitution and laws, by the legal voters of Kentucky, 
Governor for the ensuing four years. 

" Deeply do I sympathize with his family and the citi- 
zens of Kentucky in the anxiety for his restored health, 
and regret that his recent illness prevents this day's 
ceremonies taking place, according to custom, at the 
capital of the State ; bat, at the same time, we would 
indulge the hope of his speedy restoration to health and 
vigor, and an early entrance upon the active duties of his 
office. 

" Retiring from the weighty cares and labors of office, 
to resume the more pleasant position and pursuits of a 
private citizen, it is a source of sincere congratulation 
that I leave the affairs of our State in the hands of one, 
who brings into the active service of the State an en- 
larged and enlightened experience in public affairs, and 
an earne;^ devotion to the best interests and welfare of 
the citizens. Could I impart to him a portion of the 
delight which I experience upon being relieved from 
public cares, it would cheer him in many a weary hour 
of labor and care. But this may not be; for he who 
accepts the honors of office, must pay the accustomed 
tribute which a censorious public exacts. He must 



Appendix. Ill 

watch and labor for the public good, and bear with 
patient silence the abuse of the malevolent, the mis- 
construction of the careless, the misunderstanding of 
the ignorant, the misrepresentations of the partisan, and 
the slanders of the disappointed and unworthy. From 
all this I this day most gladly retire, and leave my 
friend, Governor Helm, to meet the occasion for the 
ensuing four years. 

" We are all embarked on the same vessel — the gallant 
'Old Kentucky' — and are convoying the 'Constitution' 
through dangerous and stormy seas. It is freighted with 
the treasure of all our hopes and liberties. We must 
' sink or swin ' together. A common fate, for weal or 
woe, unites us in a common destiny. We should there- 
fore stand together in harmonious action until, with all 
our treasure, we are safely moored in the harber of con- 
stitutional security. If we then choose, we can renew 
our ' ancient disputes,' and have a regular political ' set- 
to.' But now is not a time for jars and discords, and I 
invoke all to stand by your Governor elect ; give him a 
brave and earnest helping hand ; strengthen his arm to 
uphold the rights and liberties of our people ; and the 
God of our fathers will aid you to defend and maintain 
the right. 

"Fellow-citizens, I now take my leave of you as your 
Chief Executive, to resume the place and pursuits of a 
private citizen, invoking upon the people of my loved 
native State the bounteous blessings and beneficent pi-o- 
tection of Him who led our fathers safely through the 
dark days of the Revolution, up to the light of Liberty's 
day, and inspired them to construct for themselves and 
their posterity the noblest and freest government that 
ever sheltered the rights of man. Fellow-citizens, I now 
retire, and yield the government of the State into the 
hands of your Governor elect, His Excellency, John L. 
Helm." 



112 Appendix. 

The Tnaugnral Address of the incoming Governor was 
read by his Secretary of State, the Hon. Samuel B. 
Churchill, and is as follows : 

INAUGURAL ADDRE.SS OF GOVERNOR JOHN L. HELM. 

Profoundly grateful to the people of Kentucky for the 
high honor they have conferred upon me, in electing me 
by such an immense majority to the Gubernatorial office, 
I avail myself of this fitting opportunity to return my 
most heartfelt acknowledgments to the people of my 
native State for this renewed evidence of their respect 
and confidence. 

In accepting this great trust I feel no less the honor 
conferred than the duties imposed, and though I well 
know that both are great, yet humbly invoking the bless- 
ing, guidance, and protection of our Heavenly Father, 
and firmly trusting in the manhood, self-respect, and 
patriotism of Kentuckians, I accept the post which has 
been assigned me, with the firm resolution, to the utmost 
of my ability, to defend and maintain both the Constitu- 
tion of our own State and the Constitution of the United 
States. 

I am well aware that some pestilent and evil-minded 
men in the State, who believe that the country is ruined 
if they are not perpetually in power and ofiice, have 
attempted to malign and traduce the Democracy and 
people of Kentucky, hoping thereby to excite unjust 
prejudicies against us among our brethren of the North- 
ern, Middle, and Western States ; and I therefore feel it 
incumbent upon me, so far as I can do so in a brief 
inaugural, to be candid and explicit in the avowal of 
our aims and objects. 

The Democratic Convention which met in Frankfort 
on the 22d of February, and whose nominee I was, 
among other things made the following plain and em- 
phatic declarations : 



Appendix. 113 

"1. Whereas, In all republics, after the convulsions of 
revolution, when the storm of passion has subsided and 
reason has been allowed again to give utterance to the 
words of immutable truth and justice, it has been deemed 
proper to pause and assert the true principles of govern- 
ment : Now, therefore, the Democracy of Kentucky, in 
Convention assembled, do solemnly declare that this Con- 
vention doth unequivocally express a firm resolution to 
maintain and defend the Constitution of the United States 
and the Constitution of this State against every aggres- 
sion, either foreign or domestic, and that the people of 
this State will support the Government of the United 
States in all measures warranted and sanctioned by the 
Constitution of the United States. 

"2. We most solemnly declare a warm attachment to 
the Union of the States, under and pursuant to the Con- 
stitution, by the adoption of which the Union was effected, 
and we know of no better or more effectual way of main- 
taining and perpetuating the Union than by upholding 
and defending the Constitution, which is the bond of 
union, by a faithful observance of the principles upon 
which the Union is based, and by the cultivation of a 
feeling of friendship and justice toward the citizens of 
our sister States." 

" 22. In conclusion, we declare to the people of our 
own beloved Commonwealth, as well as to the people of 
the whole Union, that we have met, not to foment discord, 
bat to heal dissensions, and to endeavor, to the utmost of 
our power, to bring back our Government to its ancient 
purity, and to try to make it such as it was in the days of 
Washington, .Jefferson, and Jackson. We wish to main- 
tain and save both the Constitution and the Union as they 
came to us from the hands of our patriot fathers, to pre- 
serve the rights and liberties of our citizens, to maintain 
all the safeguards of the Constitution intact and inviolate, 
8 



114 Appendix. 

and to rescue the Government from the vandal grasp 
of that Radical Congress whose governing principle of 
action is rule or ruin. The Democratic party is not 
sectional, but is co-extensive with the Union itself, and 
its mission is not to destroy, but to restore concord and 
fraternity, and to resist all encroachments, from what- 
ever quarter they may come, upon the Constitution and 
the liberties of the people. This is the great work we 
propose, and to accomplish these noble and patriotic 
purposes we invite the co-operation of every patriot 
throughout our vast domains." 

These enunciations of our political faith are clear, 
truthful, and patriotic ; and I here most solemnly pro- 
claim, in the presence of my fellow-citizens, who know 
me so well, and whom I have known so long, that it is 
my fondest wish, most ardent hope, and earnest prayer, 
that all the States may be restored to their equal rights 
under the Constitution, and that the Union may be as 
lasting as time itself. Thanks to God, the tread of hos- 
tile armies is no longer heard, the roar of cannon and 
the peals of musketry are hushed, and peace — blessed, 
glorious peace — sheds her benignant and eflulgent beams 
throughout the entire length and breadth of the Republic. 

Now, my countrymen, is the proper time to calm the 
troubled w^aters, to heal all wounds and dissensions, to 
restore concord and fraternity, and nobly to redeem the 
pledges which we voluntarily and frankly made at the 
commencement of our late and unhappy civil war. 

As early as 1861, Congress adopted, almost unanimous- 
ly, the celebrated Crittenden resolutions, in which they 
proclaimed to the world, "That this war is not waged on 
our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose 
of conquest and subjugation, nor for the purpose of over- 
throwing or interfering with the established institutions of 
the States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of 
the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the 



Appendix. 115 

dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unim- 
paired ; and that so soon as these objects are accomplish- 
ed, the war ought to cease." 

Fortunately for us all, the war is now over, the authority 
of the Federal Government is everywhere fully restored, 
and it is full time tliat the faith of the nation, so solemnly 
plighted, should be redeemed. Let us forget the bitter- 
ness of the past, let us forgive its errors, remembering 
that to err is human, to forgive divine ; and then, when 
we no longer keep the heel of military despotism upon 
the people of ten sister States, we may cry out against 
the oppression of England against Ireland, of Russia 
against Poland, of Austria against Hungary ; but the 
world will think that we may well be silent until then. 

The people of Kentucky have just cause to complain 
of the action of Congress in excluding from their seats 
the Representatives from the State, who were duly elected 
in accordance with all the forms and requirements of law, 
and who had all the qualifications prescribed by the Fed- 
eral Constitution. 

Nothing can be more explicit than the Constitution upon 
this subject ; for, under article first, section second, we 
find the following : " The House of Representatives shall 
be composed of members chosen every second year by 
the people of the several States; and the electors of each 
State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature." 2d. 
" No person shall be Representative who shall not have 
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven 
years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, 
when elected, be an inhabitant of the State in which he 
shall be chosen." 

These are the sole and entire qualifications which are 
required by the Constitution, and Congress has no consti- 
tutional power to add to or subtract from them. This is 
the fundamental law, and it is admitted by both friend 



116 Appendix, 

and foe that our Representatives were all elected by the 
duly qualified voters of the State, and that all of them 
had the constitutional qualifications above enumerated. 
Knowing that these things are fully susceptible of proof, 
and cannot be successfully contradicted or refuted, the 
foes of constitutional liberty point us to another article of 
the Constitution, which says: "Each House shall be the 
judge of elections, returns, and qualifications of its own 
members;" and under this clause claim that Congress is 
omnipotent upon the subject, and can deprive a free peo- 
ple of representation. Nothing can be more absurd, or 
at war with common sense and reason. This clause in 
the Constitution is as plain as those first cited, and is 
based on justice — for it was both necessary and proper 
that Congress should .see that all its members were elected 
by the voters prescribed by the Constitution, and that they 
possessed the qualifications required by it. This is the 
beginning and end of the constitutional discretion and 
power of Congress upon this subject; and if Massachu- 
setts or any other State sees proper to send Turks or Mor- 
mons, Chinese or Arabs, to Congress, and they are elected 
by the qualified voters, and are twenty-five years old, and 
citizens of the State from \vhich they are chosen, and 
have been seven years citizens of the United States, they 
would undoubtedly be entitled to their seats. Kentucky 
fully accords to every State the right to choose its own 
Representatives in conformity with the Constitution, what- 
ever may be their political opinions, and she claims the 
same right for herself. 

Let any other construction of the Constitution prevail, 
and let it be understood that the mere caprice, whim, and 
political prejudices of Congress are supreme upon this 
subject, and it may not be long before Representatives 
may be denied their seats because they chance to be Pro- 
testants, Catholics, or Democrats; and when elections are 
about to take place, the people will have no alternative 



' 



Appendix. 117 

left them but to send committees to Congress to ask of 
that body for whom they will graciously permit them to 
cast their votes. 

At the last session of Congress our Representatives were 
present and ready to take the oaths of office, as prescribed 
by that body, but, as yet, they have not been admitted to 
their seats. I sincerely trust, however, that the mists of 
passion and prejudice will soon pass away, and that Ken- 
tucky will not much longer be denied those sacred rights 
which are guaranteed her by the Constitution itself. 

The vast majority of the people of Kentucky are loyal 
to the Constitution, and desire, above all things, the re- 
storation of the Union, with equal rights to all the States. 
We wish to see no single star erased or obscured, but 
rather that all of them be blended in one harmonious and 
glorious galaxy. 

In England, during the reign of Creorge the Third, the 
people of Middlesex county thrice elected the celebrated 
John Wilkes to the House of Commons, and he was thrice 
denied his seat by Parliament; but all England was in- 
dignant at this foul affront upon the rights of the nation, 
and the minions of the King were compelled to submit to 
the decisions of the ballot, and John Wilkes was at last 
admitted to his seat. I am unwilling to believe that the 
people of this country love liberty less than the people of 
England, and I feel an unwavering confidence that the 
people will yet lii-mly stand by our glorious Constitution, 
and demand that its provisions shall be respected and 
obeyed. Let us uphold and maintain it, for it is the sheet- 
anchor of civil liberty, and, if it shall go down, anarch}^ 
and confusion will stalk through the land, and unbridled 
license will produce universal distrust and misery. 

In times of high excitement, when our judgments are 
clouded by passion, and reason has been dethroned by 
frenzy, we madly leap over all legal barriers to attain our 
ends; but sage experience always shows that all such 



118 Appendix. 

acta are productive of nothing but folly, regret, and crime. 
In our own country some have been denied even the right 
of trial b}^ jin'y, though it was as clear as the noon- day 
sun that they were entitled to such trial by the Constitu- 
tion ; and, under the sentence of mere Military Commis- 
sions, unauthorized by law, have been immured in prisons, 
or led to public execution, and died upon the scaffold by 
the hands of the hangman. 

Many persons may now believe that some of those who 
were thus unlawfully punished M^ere innocent of the of- 
fenses charged ; but the dead cannot be brought back to 
life, and neither unavailing regrets, nor bitter remorse and 
tears, or even judicial decisions afterward rendered, can 
recall those who have passed the slender bounds which 
separate time from eternity. These acts, vv^ith all their 
attendant horrors, have passed into history, and cannot 
now be amended ; but they remain a perpetual warning 
unto us, that there can be safety for none, unless the Fed- 
eral Constitution shall be held the supreme law of the 
land. There can be no higher law than this. 

The negroes everywhere throughout the United States 
have been emancipated, and, whether wisely or unwisely, 
it is needless now to say. It is an accomplished fact — a 
fixed, inexorable fact — and as such we should receive it. 
It becomes us, also, to see that the negroes are protected 
to the fullest extent, in both their persons and their prop- 
erty. We should treat them humanely and kindly, and 
do all we can to better their condition, and make them 
useful citizens of the State ; and in my first message to 
the Legislature I will make some recommendations upon 
the subject. They must understand, however, that white 
men will rule Kentucky. We are not yet sunk so low as 
to consent to be governed by negroes. 

I know that there are a few renegade whites among us, 
whose appetites so lust after place and power that they 
would be willing to see the white in subjection to the 



Appendix. 119 

negro, if they could fill their pockets with filthy lucre, or 
gratify their unhallowed ambition thereby ; but, thanks to 
God, they are few in numbers, and will decline into insig- 
nificance when their diabolical and disgraceful plans are 
fully disclosed. In Kentucky even the majority of the 
Radicals declare their opposition to negro suffrage, and 
my Radical competitor, Colonel Barnes, in our recent 
canvass, repeatedly denounced it. Had he advocated 
such an odious measure, the vote cast for him would have 
been insignificant, even when compared with the small 
vote which he received. The white is the superior race, 
as universal history and science acclaim, and will never 
accept the position of inferiority or negro equality. Such 
a thought is revolting to the white race. Other States 
should have the right to act as they please upon this sub- 
ject. Kentucky fully accords them that right, but she 
claims the same privilege for herself, and will never con- 
sent that any but white men shall represent her interests 
or her honor. 

To my friends of the so-called Third party I have a 
word to say. For their late standard-bearer. Judge Kin- 
KEAD, I have the highest respect and regard, and I believe 
that a large majority of their rank and file are honest 
and patriotic men ; but I must say, in all candor, that 
there are a few selfish, ambitious, and designing men 
belonging to that organization, who, through it, are at- 
tempting to bring dishonor, disgrace, and ruin upon the 
State. I am satisfied that nine tenths of what are called 
Third party men fully agree with the Democracy in prin- 
ciple, and there is no good reason why there should be 
any estrangement between us. You are for the restora- 
tion of the Constitution and the Union, and so are we ; 
but to give full force and effect to your efforts in behalf 
of these things you must become a part and a portion of 
that great, energetic, and living party, whose principles 
are one and the same from the frozen lakes of the North 



120 Appendix. 

to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the bleak shores of the 
Atlantic to the golden sands of the Pacific coast. Come 
to us; we extend to you the greetings of friendship and 
brotherly love, and, in this crisis of our country's danger, 
let us join hands, and work together for our country's 
good. 

It is the province of the Democratic party now not 
only to guard the Constitution, but to warn the people of 
the dangers of a central despotism. That great apostle 
of liberty, Thomas Jefferson, who so well understood the 
workings of our Government, in a letter which he wrote 
to Gideon Ctranger on August 13th, 1800, uses the follow- 
ing forcible language : " And I do verily believe, that if 
the principle were to prevail of a common law being in 
force in the United States (which principle possesses the 
General Government at once of all the powers of the 
State Governments, and reduces us to a single, consoli- 
dated Government), it would become the most corrupt 
Government on earth." These were the principles of 
the illustrious Sage of Monticello, the great author of the 
Declaration of Independence, and are the vital principles 
of the Democratic party of to-day. No party deserves 
the confidence of the people whose principles are not 
based upon truth, justice, and the Constitution. These 
are the great landmarks to which statesmen should look; 
and, if the people will firmly and steadfastly adhere to 
them, our Government will stand through countless ages 
a monument to the wisdom of our revolutionary sires. 

I return my most heartfelt thanks to my honored prede- 
cessor for the kindly manner in which he has spoken of 
me personally, and for the many noble sentiments to 
which he has this day given utterance and expression. 
Called from the tented field to guide the ship of State, 
he has stood at the helm with resolute firmness, and, 
though he encountered a rough and stormy sea, which 
threatened to engulf us all, he leaves the good old ship 



Appendix. 121 

Kentucky, for the present, at least, moored in tranquil 
waters. I well know the difficulties and dangers which 
surrounded him, and I know, also, that his prudence, his 
courage, and his wisdom have averted many an impend- 
ing blow from the people of the State. A man of gener- 
ous impulses and high accomplishments, he leaves behind 
him at the Capital a host of friends, and in his retirement 
will meet everywhere a cordial welcome from a people 
whom he has so faithfully and efficiently served. 

Fellow- citizens, with my present term of office my 
political life will close forever. I have no further politi- 
cal aspirations or desires, and feel that I have been often 
honored more than I deserved. My heart is full of love, 
atlection, and gratitude for the people of my native State, 
and it will be the earnest and constant endeavor of my 
administration to promote their happiness and prosperity. 
I earnestly entreat all my fellow-citizens to forget all past 
asperities, to cease useless contention and wrangling, and 
to unite in one common effort to maintain the honor and 
integrity of our good old Commonwealth. There are no 
secessionists among us now. We are all for the Union 
and the Constitution, and let not the true men of the 
country give comfort to their enemies by foolishly fight- 
ing over the dead issues of the past. Kentuckians, be 
true to your own honor, to your own manhood, and to 
your own race ; fear not, falter not, but maintain the 
right, and the storm and the cloud will pass away, and a 
restored Constitution and Union will be the rich fruits of 
your labors, a^d universal peace and prosperity will lill 
the land, whose people will then be united by the golden 
and indissoluble links of confidence, affection, and love. 



122 Appendix. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN RELATION TO 
THE DEATH OF GOVERNOR HELM. 

On Thursday, the 20th February, 1868, Mr. A. H. Field, 
a member of the Senate, and Dr. G. L. Mcx\fee, a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives, reported the follow- 
ing resolutions to the General Assembly of Kentucky, 
referring to the death of Governor Helm : 

The Hon. John Larue Helm, late Governor of this State, 
and one of the most distinguished of its native-born citi- 
zens having departed this life, it is eminently proper that 
the representatives of the people should pay a tribute to 
his memory ; therefore, 

1 . Be it j^esolvcd by the General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth of Kentucky, That the people of the State deeply 
feel and deplore the bereavement which, under Divine 
Providence, has been visited upon us in the death of Hon. 
John L. Helm, which occurred at his home in Hardin 
county, on the 8th day of September, 1867, shortly after 
his inauguration as Governor of the State. 

2. That in the various offices of public trust that he has 
filled in the State — as a Representative in the popular 
branch of this Legislature, and for a number of years 
its presiding officer, as Senator, Lieutenant Governor, 
and Governor — ^he so bore himself as to reflect back the 
honors conferred upon him by the State. 

3. That while Kentucky pays this tribute to his public 
service, she would be unmindful of the justice due to the 
memory of the man if she did not bear public testimony 
to his private worth. In all the varied relations of life he 
was a model of human excellence — generous, gentle, and 
kind ; a man who cherished no revengeful hates ; pleased 
in forgiving rather than in persecuting. As a father, kind 
and indulgent; as a husband, devoted and affectionate; 
as a companion and friend, true to the strictest require- 
ments of the social circle. Viewed as the statesman, the 



Appendix, 123 

lawyer, the husband, the father, the companion, and 
friend, he lived a life of distinction and usefulness, and 
died without a stain upon his glorious escutcheon. 

4. 'J'hat these resolutions be spread upon the journals 
of the respective Houses, and a copy thereof be for- 
warded to his family. 

5. That the public buildings be draped in mourning, 
and that the members wear the usual badge of mourning 
for thirty days. 



REMARKS BY HON. A. H. FIELD, OF BULLITT. 

Mr. Speaker: Arising for the purpose of asking the 
passage of the resolutions just reported, my heart again 
turns to the sad event that causes this action upon our 
part to-day, and again the wounds that the hand of time 
had partly healed are reopened, the tears start again, and 
memory turns with sadness to the day uj)on which the 
remains of our deceased Governor, John L. IIklm, were 
consigned to the tomb. 

Glad would I have been, sir, had this solemn duty 
devolved upon one more able to do his memory justice 
than I, more conversant and familiar with his life ; but as 
his friend, Mr. Speaker, my heart prompts me to offer at 
his grave its tribute of deep respect and veneration ; not 
to pluck from the realms of fancy flowers with which to 
decorate his tomb, but to bring from the depths of a heart 
devoted to his memory the sacred myrtle, and lay its 
wreath by the side of the flowers placed by the hands of 
aflection o'er his grave. 

But a few months since, Mr. Speaker, he occupied the 
seat upon this floor from which I have just ai'isen, repre- 
senting the same people ; and while I feel that the State 
has lost much in his death, I feel that we, his immediate 



124 . Appendix. 

constituents, have lost more. She knew him as her faith- 
ful and devoted public servant; we knew him in addition 
as a kind, devoted husband, an allectionate father, a 
cherished friend. She can with pride point to his many 
public acts, and miss him in her councils ; we, too, look 
with pride upon his public record, that will ever live as a 
monument to his fame ; but we look upon him, in addi- 
tion, as the husband, the father, and friend, and while she 
misses him in her councils, we not only miss him there, 
but in all the relations that render life noble and attrac- 
tive. 

He was born on the 4th day of July, 1802, in the county 
of Hardin, a day, of all others, of which the American 
people are justly proud, and, in the language of one who 
knew and loved him well, " He ever remembered with 
burning enthusiasm the ever memorable day of his na- 
tivity as being the birthday of the nation of which he 
was a citizen." 

He was the eldest son of George B. Helm, a native of 
Virginia, and one among the first settlers of the State of 
Kentucky. His mother, Rebecca Larue, was also a native 
of Virginia. Coming from the Shenandoah Valley, they 
settled in the forests of Kentucky, in Hardin county, and 
amid its wilds and dangers they commenced to rear for 
themselves a home, and that reared by them became his 
home, and on it he resided and died. 

While a mere boy his father died, leaving a large fami- 
ly and an encumbered estate. Being the eldest, the care 
of that family devolved upon him, a charge that he under- 
took and nobly discharged. The whole estate left by the 
father being sold, failed to pay its liabilities by about three 
thousand dollars. This debt was assumed by the son ; 
when of age, he gave his notes for it, and paid them out 
of the first money realized from his own resources — an 
example worthy of imitation : a son left without re- 
sources ; the care of a widowed mother and helpless family 



Appendix. 125 

dependent upon him ; the ties of nature first responded 
to, the ties of honor next. 

At the early age of sixteen years he commenced writ- 
ing in the Clerk's office of the Hardin Circuit Court, and 
at twenty-one years of age he was licensed to practice 
law. Coming to the bar in competition with such minds 
as Ben. Hardin, John Rowan, Ben. Chapeze, Gov. Wick- 
LiFFE, Wm. R. Grigsby, and others, whose names form a 
legal galaxy not surpassed by the w^orld, he gained emi- 
nence and a commanding position at the bar, which posi- 
tion he ever retained, and he was one of its brightest 
ornaments. 

The first oflicial position ever held by him was that of 
County Attorney for Meade county. There being no resi- 
dent lawyer of that county, he was appointed, though re- 
siding in Hardin. 

The absorbing topic of that time was the Old and New 
Court party. He promptly espoused the principles and 
doctrines of the Old Court party, and in a pamphlet pub- 
lished by him he defended their position with decided and 
marked ability. The year following the publication he 
was elected to the Legislature, barely eligible, on the Old 
Court question, when his county had been heretofore very 
strongly, and by a large majority, opposed to his political 
position. 

His first election to the Kentucky Legislature Avas in 
1826. From that period until 1844 he served eleven 
years, six years of the time as its presiding officer. In 
his capacity as a legislator he served his State and con- 
stituency with distinguished ability. Of fine commanding 
appearance, a wise and honest legislator, with fine legal 
attainments, a skillful and able debater, a well-versed 
parliamentarian, doing nothing as a legislator which was 
not fully sactioned and approved by his conscience, he 
soon established for himself a legislative position which 
few in our State have ever equaled — none surpassed. As 



126 Appendix. 

the presiding officer of that body he was courteous," cahn, 
self-possessed — actuated alone by a desire to discharge 
fully and impartially the duties incumbent upon him in 
that position. 

He was then elected to the Kentucky Senate, and upon 
the expiration of his term of four years in that body, he 
was elected Lieutenant Governor on the Whig ticket, 
with the lamented Crittenden, and upon Crittenden's ap- 
pointment to the office of Attorney General in Mr. Fill- 
more s Cabinet, and consequent resignation of his office 
as Governor of the State, he became the acting Governor. 
The duties of that position were discharged by him wdth 
the same zeal and ability which had ever characterized 
him. Well versed in the needs and requirements of the 
State, no one knowing better its situation, he was in a 
position to, and did, render the State efficient service. 

Deeply devoted to the principles of the Whig party, he 
for thirty years gallantly and triumphantly bore its ban- 
ner; but when the sun of that party set; when the ashes 
of Kentucky's gallant son — the lamented Clay — were 
gathered to his fathers ; when the Northern wing of it be- 
came untrue to its ancient political faith and principles ; 
when it became untrue to itself and the nation, he, like 
thousands of others, great, good, and gallant men, came 
to the breast of their old political opponent, the Demo- 
cratic party, satisfied that she, above all others, was true 
to the Government of our fathers. 

Upon the expiration of his term of office as acting Gov- 
ernor, he retired to private life, devoting his attention to 
his farm and profession, laying aside the cares and re- 
sponsibilities of public life, and returning to the sweet 
retreat of home, to the bosom of his family, and the 
society of his true, tried, and cherished friends. 

He was not long permitted to enjoy the society of 
family and friends. The Louisville and Nashville Rail- 
road, then in process of construction, meeting with diffi- 



Appendix. 127 

culties, apparently insurmountable, its friends elected him 
its President; and when he first took charge of it, its most 
sanguine friends had ceased to hope for its completion, 
and had almost abandoned it as a failure. Giving up all 
other pursuits, he brought the whole energies of his mind 
to bear upon the work, made a success out of it, and 
he was still its President when the first train ran through 
from Louisville to Nashville. 

Deeply interested in the internal improvements and 
development of the State, he next took interest in, and 
assisted by every means in his power, the construction of 
the Memphis Branch Railroad. 

In 1865 his people again called him from his retirement, 
and elected him to the Kentucky Senate ; and in August, 
1867, when his term was but half expired, he was elected 
Governor of the State. Of his career in the Senate, from 
1865 to 1867, there are those of you here who served Mdth 
him, and can better bear testimony to it than myself; but 
you who served with him will bear me witness that the 
same honest and conscientious course that he made his 
standard in early life was his motto then. 

When he secured the nomination for Governor he was 
in his sixty-fifth year. Feeling it his duty to answer the 
call made upon him by his people— firmly believing in 
the political precepts enunciated in the platform of the 
party that nominated him — he entered upon a vigorous 
and active canvass, from which most of us in the prime 
of life would shrink, and his voice was heard from the 
valleys and the mountains, in defense of principles whose 
triumph he conscientiously believed were necessary to the 
salvation of our country. When warned of his failing 
health, and that his strength would be insufiicient to bear 
him through the canvass, his response was, " 'Tis duty ; I 
must obey." In that canvass, discharging, as he honestly 
felt, a sacred and solemn duty devolved upon him by his 
party and his friends, his strength failed him, and the 



128 Appendix. 

seeds of the disease which so soon thereafter terminated 
so fatally were developed, and he fell a martyr, discharg- 
ing his conscientious and whole duty, and the rejoicings 
over his election were soon hushed in the funeral dirge. 

He was elected on the 7th of August, inaugurated on 
the 2d of September, and died on the 8th; the robe of 
State replaced by the robe of death ; the laurel by the 
myrtle wreath. 

" Leaves have their time to fall, 

And flowers to wither at the North Wind's breath. 
And stars to set. But thou hast all — 
All seasons for thine own, oh Death." 

He was buried on the 10th of September in the family 
burying-ground, his remains being followed to the grave 
by a bereaved and stricken family, and by a deeply sor- 
rowing community, and the wail of his native State was 
his requiem. 

But he has gone. He sleeps beneath the sod, near his 
loved home ! No polished shaft pointing heavenward 
marks his resting-piace ; but in, the archives of his State 
he has left a bright and noble record that will live for- 
ever; and as long as Kentucky is true to her ancient 
renown, she will ever point with pride to the pages of 
her history on which is written the name of John L. 
Helm. 



REMARKS OF MR. BOYD WINCHESTER, OF JEFFERSON.' 
Mr. Speaker : I should do injustice to those whom I 
represent if I failed at this time to ask the indulgence of 
the Senate for a brief moment to mingle my humble voice 
with those who, with an ability that I shall neither attempt 
nor hope to equal, have sought to do justice to the worth 
and memory of the eminent deceased, and at the same 
time appropriately to minister to the sympathies and 



Appendix. 129 

sorrows of a stricken people. Death, sir, is the common 
lot of all mankind. The first step which man makes in 
life, is likewise the first toward the grave ; from the 
moment his eyes open to the light, the sentence of death 
is pronounced against him, and as though it were a crime 
to live, it is sufiicient that he lives to make him deserving 
of death. In the midst of life we are in death— not a 
moment but may be our last — no brilliant action but may 
terminate in the eternal shades of the grave; and Herod 
is struck in the midst of the applause of his people — no 
day set apart for the solemn display of wordly magnifi- 
cence, but may conclude with a funeral pomp ; and 
Jezebel was precipitated, the very day she has chosen to 
show herself in her greatest pride and ostentation, from 
the windows of her palace ; no festival but may be the 
feast of death, and Belshazzar expired in the midst of a 
sumptuous banquet ; no repose but may conduct to an 
everlasting sleep, and Holifernes, in the heart of his army, 
and conqueror of many kingdoms and provinces, fell un- 
der the stroke of a simple Jewish woman. In a word, 
imagine ourselves in any stage or station of life, and with 
difficulty we can number those who have been surprised 
in a similar situation. Speaking to us with a solemn 
emphasis of warning and instruction that every care, 
every movement, every desire of life, should center in 
establishing a permanent and unchangeable fortune, an 
eternal happiness which fadeth not away. 

But, sir, sad as are these inexorable laws of man's mor- 
tality, it is nevertheless a consoling, a beautiful truth, that 
our g7'eat and good men do not wholly die. All that they 
achieve worthy of remembrance survives them. They 
enjoy what Milton calls that " after life in the breast of 
others." They live in their recorded actions — they live 
in their bright examples — they live in the respect and 
gratitude of mankind — they live in that wonderful and 
peculiar influence, by which one single commanding 
9 



130 Appendix. 

thought or noble deed makes its author an active and 
powerful agent in the events of life long after his mortal 
portion shall have crumbled in the tomb. Therefore, as 
they retreat into the shade of time the more radiant their 
memory becomes with glory to the eyes of posterity ; for 
great and good men are like mountains : their images 
seem to grow in proportion as they recede from our view, 
and stand out alone on the confines of the horizon. It is 
fortunate, therefore, sir, when the life of a great man may 
be thrown fully open to the world and challenge its closest 
scrutiny, with a proud consciousness on the part of the 
friendly critic that there is no blot to be canceled, no 
glaring fault which a love of 'truth forbids him to deny — 
" Nothing to extenuate or aught to be set down in mal- 
ice." 

In Governor Helm's life is illustrated this fortunate con- 
dition. In his life can be found no instance of a mean or 
equivocal action; none of a departure from the self-im- 
posed restraints of a refined and lofty sense of honor. 
He trod the diflicult and devious paths to political prefer- 
ferment long and successfully, and yet he kept his robes 
unsoiled by the vile mire which often pollutes those ways. 
Devoted to his friends, upright, guileless, tender, and 
blameless in his domestic aff'ections, richly illustrating 
that beautiful definition of a gentleman, as one whose 
aims are generous, whose truth is constant and elevated 
in degree, whose want of means makes him simple, and 
who can look the world honestly in the face with an 
equal manly sympathy. 

I shall not trespass upon the Senate by any attempt to 
sketch the character or narrate the services of Governor 
Helm's long and useful life. His distinguished services 
as a statesman are inseparably connected with the his- 
tory of our Commonwealth. For nearly half a century a 
prominent actor in all the stirring and eventful scenes of 
our political history — fashioning and moulding many of 



Appendix. 131 

the most important measures of public policy by his bold 
and sagacious mind, and arousing- others by his uncon- 
querable energy. 

As a Senator in this body he exhibited a wisdom and 
a patriotism, an elevation and originality of thought, a 
sagacity of observation, a vigor of reasoning, a produc- 
tive facility, a pungency of repartee, and elaborateness 
and profundity of discourse, a grandeur and breadth of 
political views, which have made a deep and lasting 
impression upon the grateful hearts of his countrymen, 
and wall be cherished and freshly remembered w^hen these 
walls that surround us, so often the witnesses of his 
triumphs, shall themselves have fallen like all the works 
of man, into decay and desolation. 

Governor Helm's physical and mental organization 
eminently qualified him to exercise a great and control- 
ing influence among his fellow-men. His person mus- 
cular, tall and commanding, his temperament ardent, 
fearless, and full of hope, his countenance manly and 
genial, a voice flexibly sonorous and of silvery distinct- 
ness, a manner original and expressive — these personal 
advantages, with his precise and positive statement of 
the question, his clear narration of the facts, his ample 
and vigorous phraseology, resembling the spoken phrase- 
ology of Cicero, the solemn slowness w-ith wdiicli he 
unrolled the folds of his discourse, the power and adroit- 
ness of his logic, the high dignity of his bearing, enabled 
Gov. Helm to command wherever he appeared the atten- 
tion, respect, and confidence of his auditors. Thoughts, 
feelings, emotions, came from the ready mold of his gen- 
ius radiant and glowing, and communicated their own 
warmth to every heart which received them. Frankness 
and directness as a public man, a genius for statesman- 
ship of the highest order, extraordinary capacity for public 
usefulness, a judgment never misled by imagination, but 
exact and cogent, an intellect fruitful of resources, prompt 



.132 Appendix. 

in expedients, active and comprehensive in organization, 
persevering in means, developed in Governor Helm the 
three great and principal qualities of the statesman — 
ardor and vivacity of conception, decision of command, 
force and persistence of will. 

Governor Helm was possessed of a talent essentially 
parliamentary and polemic. He said just what he meant 
to say, and, like an expert navigator, he steered his words 
and ideas through the shoals which might beset him, not 
only without going to wreck, but without ever running 
aground. A perspicuity of exposition, a remarkable sure- 
ness of judgment, a profound knowledge of details, a 
clear and vigorous argumentation, a sustained skill, a 
pointed promptness of reply, a simpleness of dialectics 
which at once convinced and enraptured his audience. 
Governor Helm was a man of iron, one of those men of 
the Napoleonic order, who march to the accomplishment 
of their purposes with erect and resolute brow, without 
fear of obstacles or doubt of victory ; who sacrifice their 
days, their nights, their fortunes, their health, their exist- 
tence to duty ; Avho never flag, who live and die of the 
energy of their will. ^ 

Governor Helm was also possessed of a deep sense of 
moral and religious obligation, and a love of truth, con- 
stant, enduring, and unflinching, which naturally gave 
rise to a sincerity of thought, expression, and conduct 
which was always open, manly, and straightforward. No 
one could stand before him without knowing that he stood 
in a majestic presence and without admiring those line- 
aments of greatness with which his Creator had enstamp- 
ed, in a manner not to be mistaken, his outward form. 
His was the appearance described by the great dramatist: 

"The combination and the form, indeed, 
Where every God did seem to set his seal, 
To give the world assurance of a man." 

Architect of his own fortune, ripe in years and honors, 
rich in the affections of his countrymen, he had been 



Appendix 133 

elevated by an unprecedented majority to the highest 
position in the gift of his State, a place which was per- 
haps the chief object of his aspiration ; and yet, as if to 
show that even the most successful of men must sooner 
or later feel the emptiness of earthly objects, that much 
prized honor was to him the dead sea fruit, which turns 
to ashes on the lips. Alas ! in his death Kentucky has 
suffered what will be to her a grievous loss. His high 
honor; his chivalrous sense of public integrity; his ele- 
vated and ardent patriotism, without stain and reproach ; 
his warm devotion to the best interests of the State he 
loved so well, are qualities much too rare to be lost 
without the deepest regret. But as for him, whose mem- 
ory we to-day revere, and upon wdiose grave we would 
lay this simple testimonial to a character rich in every 
great and manly virtue, we dare have no regrets. With 
the seal of truth and probity upon his brow, with all the 
endearments with which affection can beguile the descent 
to the grave clustering around his footsteps, he has en- 
tered the portals of the glorious lif^e eternal; he has gone 
to the high reward of a life full of eminent services and 
exhausting labors for a people w^ho honored and loved 
him with surpassing tenderness. Human societies are 
born, live, and die upon the earth. 

But they do not contain the entire man. There remains 
to him the noblest part of himself — those lofty faculties by 
which he soars to God, to a future life, to unknown blisses 
in an invisible world. This is the true grandeur of man, 
the consolation and charm of weakness and misfortune, 
the sacred refuge against the tyrannies of this world. 
Looking to the distinguished, useful, and spotless life of 
Governor Helm, we can but recollect that Cicero, in 
mourning over the death of Hortensius, did not hesitate 
to pronounce his end not unfortunate, " for he died full of 
honors, and revered by all for his great virtues, and at a 
moment happy for his fame, though unfortunate for his 
country." 



134 Appendix. 



REMARKS OF HON. R. T. BAKER, OF CAMPBELL. 
Mr. Speaker : At whatever cost of criticism it may sub- 
ject me, I cannot permit the resolutions under considera- 
tion to pass without something more than a single vote 
from me. It is a time-honored custom for deliberative 
bodies, by resolutions, to commemorate the life and public 
services of their deceased friends, and next to the Chris- 
tian's hope of salvation is the dying consolation to feel 
that they will not be forgotten when in the grave. It is 
not my purpose to attempt to give a history of the life and 
public services of John L. Helm. That has been com- 
mitted to abler hands than mine. His successor in office 
and the distinguished Senator (Field), wdio has just taken 
his seat, has left nothing to be said on that branch of the 
subject. But, sir, his public life has not all been given, 
and perhaps there is no man living that knew more of 
him in that long and stormy political contest through 
which we have just passed, and which terminated with 
his death, than myself, for we canvassed most of the State 
together, and as a companion he had few equals and no 
superiors. There was a short period of time, when, lashed 
by contending passions, we both transcended the limits of 
parliamentary discussion, and for a time became alien- 
ated, and during that period we were both v»Tetched and 
miserable. But at the Estill Springs, that Eden of the 
mountains of Kentucky, where we addressed the largest 
audience that it was my fortune ever to have met, we 
made mutual concessions, and parted on the public stand 
in peace. But we met again, and for the last time on 
earth. It was upon the summit of one of those lofty peaks 
that overlook that serpentine stream, the Kentucky river, 
wending its silent way through the mountain defiles to 
the great father of waters, where we met, and where we 
parted for the last time on earth. We sat down beneath 
the shade of a tall oak of the forest, alone, far from home, 



Appendix. 135 

wearied, tired, and careworn. We talked about home 
and its sacred rest; that our labors were ahnost o'er; and 
no man that ever lived spoke in more touching terms of 
domestic life, and with fonder hopes for the future of his 
family, than he. No plaudits of the multitude were there 
heard. The long storm of passion was hushed. Far out 
from home and habitation, where the sound of the church 
bell was never heard, we parted for the last time on earth. 
I have seen Governor John L. Helm and his now stricken 
widow presiding- in the Gubernatorial Mansion, and with 
their unbounded hospitality make glad every heart that 
entered his domicile. I have seen him as the presiding 
officer in both branches of this Capitol. I have seen him 
in the Senate Chamber, when the full tide of inspiration 
was upon him, hold the Senate and the vast audience 
that his name always drew, spell-bound by his magic 
poM^er. 1 have seen him before the masses move them to 
tears by his appeals, and by the next breath, by the magic 
power of his eloquence, elicit rounds of applause ; but I 
never saw him in the full majesty of all his greatness un- 
til that hour when we parted. 

Standing upon that mountain brow, in the deep-tangled 
wild-wood, when all was hushed to silence, his manly 
form erect, his face radiant with the emotions of his gen- 
erous heart, his eagle eye suffused, his rich mellow voice 
tinged with emotion, when he took me by the hand and 
said : "I feel that I have done my duty to my party, and I 
want to say to you that you have done your duty to yours. 
God bless you — farewell ! " 

That, to me, was the last of John L. Helm on earth ; 
but the parting scene, and the solitude of the place, his 
manly form, are &,11. now before me, and will abide with 
me through all coming time. His presence is no longer 
in our hall, and we miss him ; but there is a lonely habi- 
tation, far away in Hardin county, where, when the 
shades of darkness gather around that desolated home, 



136 Appendix. 

there is a vacant place the world can never find. He 
was blest with all of earthly honors, and severed as many 
ties as any man that ever died ; but he retained his mental 
vigor undimmed to the last, and his inaugural was his 
farewell address. But the pale horse and his rider came, 
and 

"He sank to his rest like the sun 'neath the billow, 
And calm as the zephyr that kisses the wave, 
Leaving the wild eye of friendship to weep o'er his pillow, 
And virtue to light him beyond the dark grave." 

The announcement of his death on the lightning's wing 
reached as many habitations and touched as many hearts 
with sorrow and sadness as any man that ever died. His 
name has taken its place in the galaxy of Kentucky's 
illustrious dead, and will live as long as these resolutions 
will sleep in the archives of the State. 

I have thus paddled my frail bark across the turbid 
stream that in life once divided us, to bring this, my peace- 
offering, and, with a sad heart, lay it upon the altar of his 
memory. To the name of John L. Helm, peace on earth, 
and trusting in the mercies of a kind Providence, peace 
hereafter. 



REMARKS OF DR. G. L. M'AFEE, OF HARDIN. 

Mr. Speaker : I arise not to deliver an eulogy upon the 
character of our lamented Governor ; neither do I design 
making a speech upon the occasion, but simply a few 
remarks. 

Coming as I do from the county so often and ably repre- 
sented as my constituents have been by one whose voice 
was heard in this hall nearly half a century ago, and the 
sound of whose footsteps have scarcely died away upon 
its outer threshold, my heart prompts me in behalf of my 
constituents to offer my humble tribute of respect to his 
memory. 



Appendix. 137 

To say that he was virtuous, good, great, and noble in 
character, gentlemanly in bearing, possessing genius and 
talents of the highest order, would be but commonplace, 
and fall far short of conveying to the minds of his friends 
an adequate idea of his many virtues and high character. 
The deep emotions of the great heart of the people can 
feel, more than I can find words to describe, the moral 
worth and character of such a man as that of the 
lamented Helm. 

Born in an early day, when the facilities for acquiring 
a liberal education were not as great as they are at the 
present time — consequently not receiving the advantages 
of a collegiate education — he was thrown upon his own 
resources, and much depending upon his individual exer- 
tions and perseverance, he set out upon the rugged path 
of life to carve for himself a character and a name. It 
was the fortune of this able man to illustrate by his 
exertions, the noble tendencies of our once free and 
Republican form of Government, and to teach the rising 
generation the important lesson that each one may and 
must be the architect of his own fortune, and that there is 
no station or position in life to which the humblest may 
not aspire. 

Outstripping many of his companions then on the high- 
way to fortune — some of whom turned aside into paths of 
idleness and dissipation, others becoming weary and dis- 
couraged, yielded up the palm to their more energetic and 
persevering competitor, and have long since sunk into 
obscurity ; whilst he, b}" dint of toil and perseverance, 
reached a high place in the temple of fame, and has 
engraven his name upon the tablets of the hearts of his 
countrymen, and written it in living letters upon the 
bright page of history, which the finger of time can 
never efface. 

Nurtured in the school of adversity, he acquired a vigor 
of constitution, an independence of thought, speech, and 



138 Appendix. 

action, which gave him through life a force of character 
which enabled him to command the respect of all. 

To know him was to love and admire. Man}^ differed 
with him in political views in days that are passed and 
gone. Yet they had unbounded confidence in his honor, 
honesty, and patriotism, and believed that he would do 
nothing intentionally which would not promote the inter- 
est and happiness of his constituents, and redound to the 
welfare and prosperity of the country. Consequently, 
when he asked position at the hands of the people, they 
gave him their warm and hearty support, as is well attest- 
ed by the many high positions of honor and trust he so 
ably and faithfully filled. Eleven years a member of this 
House, six of which (if I mistake not) he filled the high 
and responsible position which your honor now occupies. 

Believing, as he honestly did, that the interest and 
happiness of his country in a great measure depended 
upon the success of the principles he espoused, he exerted 
every energy of body and mind to stay the cloud of fa- 
naticism which was gathering thick and fast over the land, 
and to roll back the waves of despotism which were 
threatening to sweep over us, and engulf us in one com- 
mon ruin with our sister States of the South. How well 
he succeeded, let the voice of a grateful people testify. 
With a majority over both of his honorable competitors, 
unprecedented by any heretofore given, he returned to 
the boson of his family exhausted in mind, his physical 
powers prostrated, there to enjoy but for a short time the 
unfading laurels he had so nobly won. 

In one short week from the time he was inaugurated 
Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth he was sum- 
moned to the land of spirits ; death, the great leveler of 
all, has laid him low, at a time when we most needed his 
cool deliberation, his wise counsel, and mature and sound 
judgment, to guide and direct the ship of State to a 
peaceful mooring. He gave his life a sacrifice upon his 



Appendix. 139 

country's altar, and died a martyr to the principles he 
espoused. 

" Dnice est pro patria mori.'''' lie has left a v\diole 
people to mourn his loss with a sorrow deep as the love 
they bore him. 

Mr. Speaker, our loss has indeed been great, but it is 
nothing when compared with that of the bereaved widow. 
When the twilight of evening draws the mantle of dark- 
ness over the face of nature, a gloom of sadness and 
sorrow gathers around her heart and hangs like a pall. 
The chastening rod of the Almighty has fallen heavily 
upon her. One son, in the prime of life and vigor of 
manhood, fell a prey to disease in a distant city, and now 
sleeps beneath the silent sod of his nativity. When Ken- 
tucky's sons shall tread the soil of tlie sunny South, and 
tarn aside to linger awhile upon the blood-stained field 
of Chickamauga, in their wanderings and meditations, 
their eyes shall chance to fall upon the last resting place 
of the gallant, brave, and warm-hearted General Hardin 
Helm, who gave his life for his country's cause, what deep 
emotions of patriotic pride will swell their hearts, and 
tears of sadness suffuse their eyes, to think that there 
sleeps the son, in every respect worthy of his illustrious 
sire. 

"How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
By all their country's wishes blessed. 
Wheu spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
Returns to deck their hallowed mold, 
Sue then shall dress a sweeter sod 
Thau fancy's feet have ever trod.'' 

Deprived of the advice and counsel of the partner of 
her joys and her sorrows, and those she dearly loved, may 
she bow in meekness and humiliadon to the will of Him 
who has promised to be a father to the fatherless, and a 
husband to the widow. 



140 Appendix. 

REMARKS OF JUDGE E. C. PIIISTER, OF MASON. 

Mr. Speaker : This is a sad occasion in the history of 
Kentucky. The elected Governor of the Commonwealth 
has fallen. Elevated to his position by a manifestation 
of popular confidence never before witnessed in the State, 
he was prostrated by a fatal disease immediately after ; 
and, before he entered the Executive Mansion, he was 
swept into the grave by the great reaper — Death. 

This calamity reminds us impressively how vain is 
earthly ambition, how uncertain are human expectations; 
and that there is no sure reliance in time of trouble but 
Heaven. 

In our beautifully arranged system of Government vre 
have no interregnums. By operation of law, on the 
death of the Governor, there was advanced to the posi- 
tion a statesman of enlarged views, mature thought, 
great wisdom and firmness, and true virtue, who will 
preside over the destinies of the State wisely and well. 
Still the loss of Governor Helm, at any time a misfortune, 
is at this period a great calamity. 

We have recently lost the noble, generous, and true- 
hearted Powell ; the great statesman Hise ; and soon 
after the Governor was taken from our midst. We need- 
ed his great industry, activity, and energy — his patriotism, 
courage, sagacity, and practical wisdom. 

In the presence of such a calamity, language is inade- 
quate to express the sense of our loss, and eulogy would 
be powerless to do honor to the virtues of the deceased. 
He was true in all the relations of life, and faithful to 
every trust. He possessed in an eminent degree all the 
domestic affections and virtues. He was a good husband, 
kind father, and devoted friend. He Avas a lawyer of 
great ability, a statesman of foresight and wisdom, whose 
name is identified with many measures of policy for the 
benefit of his native State. 



Appendix. 141 

But, if I were called upon to give the prominent char- 
acteristics of our fallen Governor, I would say that two 
were remarkable. Their manifestation \vas ever observ- 
able. These were, his sound practical wisdom, his 
common sense, better adapted to achieve great results 
than the learning of the schools, and his State pride — his 
devotion to Kentucky. He was never promoted to Fed- 
eral positions ; bat he was honored by his State with 
many places of responsibility, and he was proud of her 
greatness and glory. 

As he was devoted to Kentucky, she was fond and 
proud of him. But, alas ! her pride is bowed and her 
trust in her chosen son no longer availeth. Let us join 
with his sad friends and sorrowing family in dropping a 
tear over his new-made grave and pay a tribute of affec- 
tion to his memory. 

Let us wreathe his name with the evergreens and flow- 
ers of affection, and enroll it upon the scroll of those who 
honored their State, and whom she delighted to honor — 
among those of the immortals who were not born to die. 

Let us treasure his memory in perpetual remembrance, 
and transmit it to posterity as an inspiration to truth and 
virtue and honor in all time. 



REMARKS OF HON. W. B. READ, OF LARUE. 

Mr. Read, of Larue, said that he did not know that the 
resolution now under consideration was in existence until 
a few moments ago, and felt that he was unprepared to 
do the occasion and subject justice, and that, on the other 
hand, he would feel that he had not done his duty, were 
he to say nothing on this mournful and sad occasion. 

He further said : Sir, 1 have known the distinguished 
dead from my earliest recollection. I had the honor of 
being born in the same county that he was born in — the 



142 Appendix. 

county of Hardin. What few remarks I shall make, shall 
be addressed to the life and character of that noble man. 

Governor Helm was born on that notable day, the Sab- 
bath of our independence, in the year A. D. 1802, and 
died in September, 18G7, at the ripe age of 65 years. He 
was born upon the same farm upon which he died. He 
descended from a long line of noble and patriotic ances- 
try on both sides. His parents were not blessed with an 
overabundance of this world's goods, and he being bereft 
of his father while he was yet very young, and being the 
oldest child, and upon whom depended, to a very great 
degree, the support of his mother and his brothers and 
sisters, his means of obtaining an education were very 
limited ; he only received a common English education. 

At about the age of seventeen or eighteen he entered 
and wrote in the clerk's office of Samuel Haycraft, 
who was then Clerk of the Hardin Circuit Court. He 
remained there some time, and then studied law, and 
commenced the practice of the profession of his choice at 
the age of twenty-two ; and by his industry and hard 
study he soon took a high position in his profession as a 
lawyer and an advocate. As an advocate, he had no 
superier. He was afiable, courteous, and kind to the 
young men of the legal profession, and none knew him 
but to love and admire him. He was possessed with a 
commendable ambition, and at the age of twenty-four he 
was elected by the voters of his native county to a seat 
on this floor, and was re-elected, first and last, a member 
of this House for eleven terms, and was Speaker of this 
body six years of that time. He presided with such dig- 
nity and impartiality as to challenge the admiration and 
respect of all. He was elected twice as a member of the 
Senate, the last term of which he resigned to make the 
race for Governor. 

He was elected Lieutenant Governor in the year 1848, 
on the ticket with the late lamented Crittenden, during 



Appendix. 143 

which term Governor Crittenden resigned, and the admin- 
istration of the affairs of the State fell upon Gov. Helm 
for the balance of the term. The history of his adminis- 
tration is well known to you all. He was elected, as you 
all know full well, last August to the Chief Magistracy of 
this proud Commonwealth, and died in one week after 
his inauguration. His history is an eventful one, and is 
well known to many of you. He left a lovely and de- 
voted family, and I greatly sympathize with them in their 
sad bereavement. 

No one kne^v him but to love and admire him, and his 
memory is indelibly written upon the hearts of the people, 
and the State to-day stands draped in weeds of mourning 
because of the death of her honored and beloved son. 

Sir, Governor Helm was a good as well as a great man. 
He was the noblest work of God — an honest man, true to 
his friends, and lenient to his enemies. He was a good 
neighbor, a kind husband and father. 

He was a statesman and patriot of the first order, and 
it seemed through all his life that his chief object was to 
promote the interest of his State and people. He never 
held a Federal office in his life. He ran one race for 
Congress many years ago, and was defeated by a small 
majority by the Hon. Willis Green. Although he and I 
always differed in politics until within the last few years, 
yet our relations and intercourse in life were of the most 
amicable nature. 

Yes, I repeat, Governor Helm was a great and good 
man. He was held in the estimation of the people of his 
State as Alexander the Great and Washington were and 
are held by the civilized world. Alexander is claimed as 
the world's warrior, and Washington is held and claimed 
as the w^orld's patriot and statesman; and any prefixes 
attached to their names would but detract from their 
greatness. The name of Alexander and Washington is 
enough ; they need nothing more ; the mention of their 



144 APPENDIX. 



names alone sends a thrill through the hearts of all the 
civilized nations of the earth. So it is with Gov. Helm 
in Kentucky. The title Governor is not needed to give 
potency to his name ; it detracts from, rather than to in- 
crease, the estimate placed upon him. Then let the name 
Helm be a synonym of all that is good and great through- 
out this proud Commonwealth. He has been gathered to 
his fathers, and it is to be hoped that our loss is his eternal 
gain. Peace be to his ashes. 



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